This year's annual meeting to see some registration changes

As you know, each year the cooperative holds an annual meeting that all members are invited to attend. We try to make the meeting enjoyable by providing a small breakfast, some entertainment, displays from each of the cooperative’s departments, and some nice prizes. I’ll be honest; we do all these things to provide an incentive to you, the member, to come to the meeting to fulfill our legal requirement.
As a democratically governed cooperative, we must hold an annual business meeting in which board members are elected with a quorum of at least two percent of the membership present. I know two percent doesn’t sound like a lot but it can be hard to get folks to come out. I tend to be a realist and I don’t have any false illusions about our member involvement. I write these articles hoping to reach 24,000 members each month to communicate and provide information. In reality, I know I am lucky if ten percent of our membership reads them. But, I’ll take what I can get!
The reason I’m writing about this topic and bringing it to your attention is because it has become evident from observations by the management staff and the Board, along with member comments left after the meetings over the last few years, we need to bolster our efforts to ensure every person who registers, who votes, and who walks away with a prize is actually a recognized cooperative member. In a nutshell this means their name, singularly or jointly, is on an active electric account served by the cooperative. This is not only a matter of fairness; it is a legal requirement when it comes to the election of our board of directors. We have an obligation and desire to continue to make sure the elections are valid and legal in every aspect of the requirements that relate to this activity.
This being said, I wanted to make sure we communicate the registration process so our members know what to expect come meeting day. Each member will receive a registration card for the annual meeting. The annual meeting will be held the first Saturday of August so these will come in the mail during the month of July. The cards will have a place for the member to sign their name and then these are presented at the registration table at the entrance of the meeting hall.
As stated above, we have an obligation to make a reasonable effort to confirm the person with the card is the registered member. However, we do not want every member to have to present a photo ID. This would hold up the registration process and frustrate members as they would have to stand in long lines to get into the meeting. This would deter members from coming to the meeting at all. The cards will be altered this year and include a statement that simply indicates that the person signing the card is thereby verifying they are in fact the person listed on the registration card. Also, members representing entities will sign the card vouching that they are indeed a qualified representative of that entity.
For people who may lose their cards and come to the meeting anyway, we will simply ask that you step to a separate area where our staff will help members with lost cards. In this case, we will ask that you show a photo ID so we can verify you are a member prior to giving you a replacement card. The only other instance in which we may ask for identification is if there is a reason to suspect the person with the registration card is not the registered member. An obvious example of this would be if a male shows up with a registration card in a female’s name or vice-versa. In these cases, if the person cannot confirm they are in fact the member, we will let them attend the meeting but we cannot allow them to vote or win prizes. Again, this is a matter of ensuring we conduct a valid and legal election. It also is a fair way to make sure the prizes awarded actually go to a member of the cooperative.
A couple other issues that come up frequently involve spouses. Many married couples have their membership in one name. Often times the spouse that is not listed on the account attends the meeting. From a cooperative bylaw perspective, the spouse that is not on the account is not truly a member of the cooperative. This also applies to situations in which one person is deceased and the spouse carries on with the membership in the deceased name. To avoid any issues I would encourage anyone in one of these situations to give us a call and make sure the membership is held jointly or in the case of a deceased spouse, in the surviving person’s name.
We hope these slight changes do not cause any inconvenience to our members. They are being put in place to protect the member and the cooperative. By taking the necessary steps up front in the registration process, we make sure the formal act of conducting the required public meeting and election continues to be completed in a legally acceptable manner. We also ensure the member prizes are handled in a fair and equitable manner. We want the annual meeting to be a pleasant experience for our members that choose to participate with us. We hope you will join us this year!
As always if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop me an email.