Members weigh in on PEC bylaws, member bill of rights

Members can go to www.pec.coop to see a video of the forum and to learn more about the bylaws and member bill of rights. Members are encouraged to e-mail suggestions or comments before Jan. 25 to Bylaws@peci.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2010
TO: All PEC-area newspapers
MEDIA CONTACT: Anne Harvey, (830) 868-4933; Austin line, (512) 219-2602

Pedernales Electric Cooperative’s Governance, Bylaws and Legal Committee hosted a forum on Wednesday, Jan. 13 to receive member input on possible revisions, updates and improvements to the Cooperative’s bylaws. The meeting also included a discussion of a proposed member bill of rights.

Members of the committee — District 7 Director and Committee Chairman Dr. Patrick Cox, District 4 Director O.C. Harmon, District 6 Director and Board President Larry Landaker, and Advisory Director Lamont Ramage — presided over the forum, and the committee also invited Monica Schmidt, the vice president of National Consulting Group at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, to offer her expertise on governance and ethics.

“The fact that I am sitting here is an indication of the Cooperative’s willingness to look at best practices around the country,” Schmidt said. “It’s very exciting for NRECA to now have PEC as part of the cooperative family.”

Thirteen PEC members addressed the committee on topics such as term limits, single-member-district voting and open records requests. While opinions varied, most of the members praised the Board for hosting the forum and for helping PEC continue its commitment to openness and transparency.

“Last year, I participated in the predecessor to this forum and found it to be a best practice,” said PEC member Dave Collins. “I am delighted to see that practice has been maintained by this committee. This is one of many things that have occurred in the last two years of which we can be proud and which we should continue.”

“Last year, PEC held a forum similar to this to gather information from our members on the Director elections,” said Cox. “We incorporated much of that information into changes in our election process, which we believe was very successful. Actively soliciting input from our members worked so well that we decided to continue this forum.”

The committee will continue to gather additional member comments online and through feedback forms available at all PEC offices. The committee will discuss all member feedback received prior to its next meeting on Monday, Jan. 25.

“The most important thing is to hear from the members,” said Ramage. “We want to hear from members so the right decisions can be made, so our decisions will be your decisions.”

Members can go to www.pec.coop to see a video of the forum and to learn more about the bylaws and member bill of rights. Members are encouraged to e-mail suggestions or comments before Jan. 25 to Bylaws@peci.com, or mail them to:
 Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Governance, Bylaws and Legal Committee; P.O. Box 1; Johnson City, Texas 78636-0001.