Landaker vows review of PEC bylaws, including a Member Bill of Rights

"Members of the PEC, the power is back in your hands. You must pay attention and be engaged. And you must make us do it."

Send your comments and news tips to online.editor@valleyspringcomm.net, or to Mr. Lankaker, larry.landaker@gmail.com

Note: The following statement was given publicly by Pedernales Electric Cooperative District 6 Director Larry Landaker on June 29 following his election by the PEC Board as its president. The statement is presented without edits except to remove italicization.

Read Mr. Landaker's statement also at PEC's web site here: http://www.pec.coop/News/PressRelease.aspx?PRID=171 PEC Media Contact: Anne Harvey, (830) 868-4933; Austin line, (512) 219-2602


PEC Member-Owners — you have fought hard for this day and now it is yours. This election was about you. The power is back in your hands where it always belonged.

If you are a member owner, you have a seat at this table and a voice that will be heard.

I want to acknowledge the gracious public comments of Dave Collins. The implementation of Roberts Rules of Order as our procedure for conducting all future business will be adopted at our next meeting in July.

To protect our members against the whims of future boards, we will undertake a comprehensive review and ratification of our bylaws, including a Member Bill of Rights. This undertaking will have substantial member participation.

Our bylaws must comply with our own charter and state law. We will seek to permanently protect open meetings, open records and open elections. We will debate the merits of term limits. And we will be sure to require that any changes to the key provisions of our bylaws can be changed only by a vote of the Member-Owners, not the Board of Directors. This task will be completed within six months.

If you are a PEC employee, take a long deep breath. Change stirs things up. Rumors get started. I hasten to assure you that everything is going to be all right. I know many of you are bursting at the seams with new ideas. We want to hear them. If you are open minded and resourceful with high energy, creativity and integrity, you are valued and have a bright future at PEC.

And about the whistleblower policy. We will review it again with the goal of providing genuine whistleblower protection for employees.

If you are like me and you are a fan of PEC’s quality customer care, be at peace. Both safety and our legendary customer service will continue as our hallmark.

If you are a consumer wishing to save energy and want to invest in conservation and be rewarded for doing so, stay tuned. A whole lot more is coming soon.

If your interest is in renewable energy, you too have a place at the table. We will set about the task of achieving PEC’s stated goals of purchasing or generating up to 30% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2020. We look forward to working with LCRA on these initiatives.

As a traditional hill country electric cooperative, we now compete in a new energy world that includes the consumer as producer. PEC is part of this new mix. We must seize this moment and take the lead.

In the 1930’s, LBJ brought electrification to the Texas Hill Country and the Pedernales Electric Cooperative was born. Johnson made it possible because of the Rural Electrification Act under President Roosevelt. The PEC became a saving grace to many and a source of great central Texas pride. In recent years this legacy has suffered greatly because of greed and unchecked power and . . . not enough of us were paying attention.

As I was preparing these remarks I recalled a story regarding a conversation between FDR and Eleanor. Mrs. Roosevelt was pressing her husband to pass this bill and that bill. One day, with some exasperation he said to her, “Eleanor, I am not a dictator. I cannot simply will these things. You and the people must make me do it.”

Members of the PEC, the power is back in your hands. You must pay attention and be engaged. And you must make us do it.

Finally, as your new President, I humbly accept this challenge. There is heavy lifting ahead and I have much to learn. I will depend on the kindness of many strangers. But I wish to be very clear. I am prepared — unhesitatingly — to lead — and I will lead — the Member-owners, the employees and this Board.

As the English poet, William Blake put it, “exuberance is beauty.” Let us remember, in the end, it is the sum of our combined human energy — that of everyone in this room — those individual gifts of intelligence, ideas, humor, passion and exuberance . . . those are the things which power us and will truly energize this cooperative and its endeavors.

Thank you very much.