MEMBER-INITIATED BYLAW AMENDMENT FAILED
— from Suzanne Olson, OPALCO —
May 2, 2016 – OPALCO’s Tally Chairman, Doug Pearson, made his first-ever mistake in about 30 years of serving our Co-op as the official vote counter on the ferry for OPALCO’s election finale at the annual meeting. “The official SBS election results were accurate,” said Pearson. “I apologize for inadvertently transposing the order of the bylaw amendment results when I made the announcement at the annual meeting.”
The certified results on the member-initiated bylaw amendment are:
- Against: 1,301
- For: 863
This morning, Pearson handed his resignation to Foster Hildreth, General Manager, as they met to correct the discrepancy. Hildreth would not accept his resignation saying, “There is no one more qualified to manage our election results than you are – especially after this unfortunate mishap. I appreciate and respect your integrity and long service to the Co-op.”
The election results are now certified and final. The official election results from SBS Balloting Systems and also the Annual Meeting Tally Committee are posted online for member review: www.opalco.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/OFFICIAL- election-results.pdf
At the April board meeting, OPALCO leadership committed to a thorough review of election processes and the annual meeting balloting on the ferry will certainly be considered. There is a very short period of time allowed for the Tally Committee to count the votes and prepare their announcement in the course of the fast-paced meeting.
Many electric co-ops have moved to a system of all absentee balloting to reduce the margin of error and preserve the limited time available at the annual meeting on the ferry for more member activities. Pearson is in favor of a move to all absentee balloting and stated, “In 30 years of OPALCO elections, there has been only ONE time that the vote on the boat actually changed the election results.”
Members who attended the annual meeting will receive a survey to measure their satisfaction and preferences on the election process and annual meeting activities. Those results will influence the discussion in the coming months and planning for the future.
For the latest information about OPALCO, go to: www.opalco.com, sign up for our email newsletter (www.opalco.com/about/email-signup/) and follow us on Facebook (Orcas Power & Light Cooperative) and Twitter (@orcaspower). OPALCO is our member-owned cooperative, powering more than 11,000 members on 20 islands in San Juan County since 1937.
It is hardly a wonder that my friend, Doug Pearson, erred on the election results. We had spoken earlier about the pending release of the “Barefoot Bandit” who, for those of you who don’t know, camped out in Doug and Joyce’s home, TWICE, while he evaded the search for him. Doug said that he was hopeful that the Bandit would return his bicycle, and was probably distracted by remembering those events.
I certainly would support Foster in asking Doug to continue as official vote counter as long as he is willing.
D. Edwin, Have you never made a mistake in your life? Do you know anybody else who hasn’t made a mistake in their life? Not everything that happens in life is the result of a great conspiracy concocted by the ever powerful dark forces that control everything that happens in our world.
You might also consider what your words imply about Doug Pearson’s integrity. You are publicly stating that you think he conspired to rig the voting results. That is a libelous statement. You may not like the results of the vote. You may not like how Opalco runs things. But don’t disparage another person’s integrity because of your unhappiness.
I was going to e-mail as well but I couldn’t have said it better than Jim McCorison!
Thanks, Jim, for stating how many of us feel about Doug and an HONEST mistake.
Maggie
Whew! That’s a relief! So glad the bylaw amendment failed and that the count was rectified.