2021 Board Election Process Begins

From the Board President

I hope you were able to enjoy the Thanksgiving season with some family and friends, while still staying safe.  If you were like me, one of the things to be thankful for was the end of the elections and the constant political ads.  The democratic process of voting is important, but after a while election fatigue sets in.

The democratic process is also important as a DSO Electric consumer-member.  Cooperative Principle #2 is Democratic Member Control and it states that cooperatives are organizations controlled by their members who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions.  This active participation is accomplished by directors elected every year as part of the DSO annual member meeting in early April.

April 2021 seems far away right now, but preparations are already starting for director elections.  The board recently approved a policy to inform consumer-members which director positions are up for election and whether the current director is eligible and plans to run.  In April 2021, Director Position #1 in each of the three districts is up for election, the Director At-Large Position is up for election, and Director Position #3 in the West District is currently vacant and will be up for election to fill that vacancy.  Directors must reside within the DSO territory they represent.  The following information is being supplied to all consumer-members to fulfill the new policy on director positions up for election.

• The East District is all territory east of Highway K-15 and David Butler is the current director in Position #1.  David is eligible for another 3-yr term and plans to run again.
• The West District is all territory west of I-135/U.S. Highway 81 and Ken Hedberg is the current director in Position #1.  Hedberg is eligible for another 3-term and plans to run again.  Director Position #3 has been vacant since April 2020 as the previous director did not seek re-election and no other member completed the nomination process to be placed on the ballot.
• The Central District is all territory between the East and West districts and Dane Clark is the current director in Position #1.  Clark is eligible for another 3-yr term and plans to run again.
• The At-Large position is all DSO territory and Dean Allison is the current director in the Director At-Large Position.  Allison is eligible for another 3-yr term and plans to run again.

All potential directors, new or current, must complete the nomination process of obtaining member signatures on a petition to be placed on the official ballot.  Petition packets are available at the DSO Office in Solomon and must be completed and returned by the date shown in the packets.

Remember, Democratic Member Control only happens if consumer-members actively participate by placing their names on the ballot and voting on qualified directors.  Directors are expected to attend meetings and training sessions to become knowledgeable about the industry and are compensated for their time and expenses to attend meetings and training sessions.  Contact the DSO office or any current director if you have questions about the director positions.