DEAR EDITOR:
NORTH WESTERN ELECTRIC MEMBERS – VOTE NO!
In 2019 I spoke at the last in-person annual meeting the cooperative hosted. My concerns at that time were lack of financial reports for the propane subsidiary, removing term limits and not having in-person meetings.
I understand with Covid restrictions in 2020 the meeting could not be in-person. In 2021 they again used Covid, although the restrictions were lessened, to not have an in-person meeting.
In 2022 the member/owners are again not having an in-person meeting and now there is a Code of Regulation change to make it permanent.
In-person annual meetings are one of the cornerstones that make cooperatives great! The member/owners have a chance to make a difference because they are seen and heard at in-person meetings.
Being seen and heard is important because opposing information is not published in the Ohio Cooperative Living Magazine and therefore the cooperative controls all the information. So, what can member/owners do for additional information?
If you have Facebook, please join North Western Electric Members’ Independent Forum to hear other views.
DISCLAIMER: We are independent voices and not sanctioned by NWEC. It is hard to comprehend that one organization the board referred to, NRECA, recommended not to have in-person meetings yet they had their in-person annual meeting March 6-9 in Nashville TN with more than 5,000 attendees.
The change to the board members qualifications seems very strange because it comes the year after one trustee narrowly won re-election against a candidate that is a close relative of a current trustee.
It also doesn’t make sense to stop the board from being able to have brothers, spouses or close relatives as trustees when it was, and is, fine having brothers or spouses as employees.
We need the best employees and trustees. Nepotism clauses should not be controlled to suit a hidden agenda.
I continue to be concerned about the lack of financial reports for the propane subsidiary, removing term limits and not having in-person annual meetings.
We know not having term limits in government doesn’t work! Keep your cooperative safe and please go to www.nwec.com/board-trustees for information on your board member and contact them asking them to KEEP TERM LIMITS!
Stop your cooperative from becoming a corporation and VOTE NO on both proposed changes this year!
Steve Rinell, Bryan