by Larry Salmela

Director Elections

One of the most important principles of a cooperative organization is member control.  Most businesses of any appreciable size in the United States are stock corporations.  Owning the stock of a corporation enables control of the corporation.  More control comes with owning a greater percentage of the total stock issued by the corporation.  A common term for a stock corporation in the electric utility industry is investor-owned utility, abbreviated as I.O.U.

A cooperative organization, such as the North Itasca Electric Co-op, is organized much differently compared to a stock corporation.  In a co-op each person served by the organization is a member who has the same amount of control as any other member.  The members collectively control the cooperative by electing representatives to the board of directors.  Every director is a member of the co-op just like everyone else.

The co-op’s Bylaws describe three ways that a member can become a director with voting power on the board of directors. Most commonly, a member submits an application to the Nominations Committee which meets each year to recommend qualified candidates for the director elections which will be held in that year.  Less commonly, a group of 15 members can submit a petition for a candidate in a director election.  In the case a director position becomes vacant, the remaining board may appoint a member to fill the vacancy until the next regular election.

This year at its regular meeting the Nominations Committee did not recommend a candidate for the District 4 director election.  However, the incumbent Ms. Mary Jean Rahier has been nominated for election by a petition of more than 15 members.

(I will offer here a note of personal opinion.  I strongly believe in member control of the co-op according to democratic principles.  I believe that it is far better for the co-op that the members select their director representative to the board of directors compared to the selection by appointment by the other members of the board.) 

The Bylaws state that ballots will be sent to the members in any district where there are two or more candidates for the director position, i.e. a contested election.  Where there is only one candidate, ballots are not mailed.  The members who attend the cooperative’s annual meeting in June will affirm the single candidate’s election to the board.