Working for everyone
It’s amazing to be a cooperative. Being a cooperative allows us to be invested in the needs of our members rather than those of faceless stockholders. It permits this organization to be highly invested in the communities we’re in through continual service improvements, charitable donations, economic development initiatives and so much more.
Another beautiful aspect of a cooperative is the democratic nature in which we operate. Each member has a vote in our yearly elections, whether that is for the three open board of trustees positions or for a suggested bylaw change. Members even approved mail-in voting years ago as an acceptable method of participation, eliminating the need to leave work just to vote. This has allowed many more members to have their voices heard in recent years.
As we celebrate our nation’s democratic ideals on Independence Day, we want our members to know we’re always looking for ways to improve our democratic processes. Members again will have proposed bylaw changes to consider this year, all of which will ensure every member feels more included in our cooperative’s operations.
The primary proposed change affects the timing of the trustee nominations. Moving the nominating and confirmation process to earlier in the year should influence how quickly we can mail our nationally recognized annual meeting packets. These packets include the mail-in ballot, and getting them to members sooner will allow more members time to consider the business at hand and cast their votes.
Another series of proposed changes will update bylaw references of “he” to “he/she” if approved to promote more inclusion. We’d like to note that every member has always had an opportunity to vote or seek a nomination for the board. Two women have served on the board together for more than a decade.
A few other bylaw changes seek to correct minor items like punctuation in an effort to make the bylaws clearer for everyone to read.
We believe these proposed changes prove that Wiregrass Electric Cooperative is always working for everyone. We believe their approval will continue that spirit for years to come.
For more on the proposed changes, visit our website.
We look forward to hearing your opinions on them soon!
Les Moreland
CEO Wiregrass Electric Cooperative