LTE – Chuck Boyer – 2-26-2020
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In early March, all of us Dunn Energy Cooperative member/owners will be receiving our ballots for this year’s board of directors elections. Please, do not toss your ballots.
Two outstanding candidates are on this year’s ballot: JAMES ZONS and RACHEL KUMMER. Both have years of public service experience, most recently, Jim on the Dunn County Board and Rachel on the Rock Creek Township board. Neither intends to change what the co-op does well. But both hope to improve the co-op’s accessibility, transparency and accountability, as well as preserve the co-op’s local control which is threatened by a recent bylaw change which would allow directors who do not live here to shape and decide co-op policy affecting those of us who do live here. There are many reasons to vote for these candidates. Here are a few that most members are unaware of:
Last spring the board voted unanimously to bar ALL member/owners from observing board meetings (accessibility?). Of course, with no posted meeting agendas or readily available meeting minutes (transparency?), you could not know of that policy until you decided just to sit in one day and were turned away. Keep in mind that we members contribute to director compensation when we pay our monthly bill. So the directors accept those funds and thank us by telling us to go away. In short, they take the money and run—from us members (accountability?).
Something else few members know. Shortly after raising the facility charge and the kw/h rates on our bills this summer to cover a $250K DEC budget shortfall, the board turned around and raised its own pay, to $300 per meeting. I make no judgment on the amount, but the timing and the secrecy are troubling (transparency?).
Some states, notably South Carolina, have passed laws requiring energy co-ops to post on their websites, among other information, agendas, minutes, board pay and the general manager’s compensation. Because we members contribute all such compensation via our monthly bills, we should not be forced into frustrating, time-consuming research to find out, for example, that Dunn Energy’s general manager was paid $190,429 in reportable compensation + $106,100 in estimated other compensation for a total of nearly $300,000 for 2017, the most recent year for which the data is available from the IRS.
We are encouraged to cast our votes in ALL three contests on the ballot and we should do so for maximum effect. The time has come to bring some light into our co-op.
Chuck Boyer
Wheeler, WI