White River Valley Electric to hold annual election – Branson Tri-Lakes news

White River Valley Electric Cooperative will be holding their annual election of board members, as well as proposing three new amendments.

The election will be online for the second year in a row, and will be held from Monday, Aug. 23 to Friday, September 3. The results of the election will be announced on Saturday, Sept. 11 at the annual meeting at 9 a.m.

All members of White River Valley Electric Cooperative are allowed to and encouraged to vote. To vote visit whiteriver.org, where you will be prompted to enter your member account number and unique pin number, provided from a paper bill received in the mail.

On the website, the option to request a paper ballot to be mailed to your home or business will be available. To request a paper ballot on the phone, call 877-978-3246.

All information about the election, the board members being voted on, and what the amendments are is available at the website as well.

The election is held by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, based out of Jefferson City.

All of that goes directly to them, they host the website, they tally all the votes, they send out pre-addressed, pre-stamped, watermarked ballots that member request, and deliver the election results live and certified at our annual meeting, Manager of Communications and Member Engagement for White River Valley Electric Cooperative Cassie Cunningham said. No one knows (the results) aside from the third party holding the election. We dont even know what the results of those are until the meeting that day.

The meeting will be livestreamed at whiterivermeeting.com.

Last year was the first year White River Valley Electric Cooperative held an online election, due to COVID-19.

We actually had a waiver from the governor to conduct business as safely as possible, but you couldnt really meet in person. So we were able to implement temporarily online voting last year, Cunningham said. Before all of COVID even came to play, we were planning to submit to the membership for a vote option to implement online elections anyway. So that was a bylaw proposed and did pass last year.

Moving forward, our members will have the convenience to vote at the meeting if we are having an in person meeting, if we are online they will be able to mail in ballots, whichever fits most convenient for an individuals lifestyle.

Economic Development and Key Accounts Specialist Devin Fisher said the cooperative thinks its important for everyone to know what they are voting for.

Being governed by a board, they make decisions and so whenever it comes to amendments, we just want to make sure everyone knows what theyre voting for, why it is important, and how it is going to affect you, Fisher said.

The biggest thing is that what makes the cooperative different is that we are member owned, so instead of just paying a bill for your electricity, you actually have a say in our business operations as a member. So its important and a responsibility to vote, Cunningham said. Were trying to move forward and make things more engaging and convenient for the membership, so everybody can have a voice and an opportunity to participate. Were just trying to modify and improve our governance practices to accommodate everyone.

Members will vote on filing three board seats: Taney County District B Representative, Christian County District C Representative, and Douglas County District D Representative.

Douglas County is the only board seat that is running unopposed, but will still appear on the ballot.

There will also be three amendments to the bylaws proposed.

The first amendment will ask:

If you are in favor of utilizing membership votes and removing the in person requirement for establishing a forum at the annual meeting of members.

A yes vote on this means it allows for your electronic or mail in ballot to count towards a forum, so that your participation is important in cooperative matters, Fisher said. Prior to, your vote did not count unless you were at the meeting; this allows you to be able to vote online and not have to be at the meeting.

The second amendment will ask:

If you are in favor of allowing the cooperative the flexibility to hold virtual, annual meetings, at a date and time set by the board with proper notice and the ability to adjust the order of the business for virtual meetings.

Adjusting the order does not mean changing anything about the meeting, that simply means that any new business would actually move to the front of the meeting, so that nobody gives up on the meeting to discuss it at the end, Fisher said. That puts you first, and all other business last. It just promotes another format, to put your concerns first and then moves everything to the end.

The third amendment will ask:

If you are in favor of clarifying the board of directors qualifications and elections.

For the committee it was very important they take a look at this bylaw, because right now anybody can run for a seat on the board. We are simply stating that sometimes we need to promote transparency among all of our members and look at our cost savings, Fisher said. We would just like for representation to be clarified.

For more information visit whiteriver.org.

As election results become available, check out bransontrilakesnews.com.

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White River Valley Electric to hold annual election - Branson Tri-Lakes news