[Watchdogs] Some Thoughts about the Bylaws Revision Process and theUpcoming 2010 Election

[joesummy at moment.net]

Well stated.

Here is one "reform" the board passed at Monday's meeting to be more "open
and transparent"...the PEC will now provide any member with a list of
co-op members and their mailing addresses for limited and justifiable
reasons...the only justifiable reason listed was for candidates running
for the board. What are the other justifiable reasons?

There is no opt-out provision for members as indicated at the last board
meeting. In addition, a member's  request to opt-out will not be honored.

How does providing a membership list to a candidate have anything to do
with openness and transparency?

Where was the membership input on this issue?

My wife has spent the last few years trying to get us off of mailing lists.

This is an unnecessary invasion of individual privacy, which as Director
Williams pointed out at the last meeting, is not required by the PEC.

Once again, Director Williams using common sense voted against this
"openness reform" policy.

Joe Summy
Johnson City


> In Making Promised Reforms: This PEC Board Gets a Failing Grade
>
>           We need to keep our eyes on the ball, and that’s reform.  First,
> though, was it prudent for our PEC Board to return our capital
> credits in the form of small checks instead of simply crediting
> those dollars to our monthly bills?  Of course not!  The expense
> to generate and mail all those checks was a waste of our PEC
> money, and it’s an additional nuisance and expense for us to get
> those checks cashed or get them to our bank accounts.  Worse,
> the Board apparently sent out the checks to “educate” us about
> the benefits of being co-op member/owners.  Please!  We
> recognize the benefits.  It’s the RIGHTS of being co-op members
> we are after.
>
>           The Board can divert our attention by making these kinds of poor
> decisions, but we need to stay focused on the major issue this
> Board is neglecting.  Reform!
>
> When do we get a Board that’ll represent PEC members?  The members of our
> previous Board, whether you blame it on their self-serving support for the
> culprits or oblivious ignorance, fiddled while PEC coffers were raided.
> Now, what kind of Board did we elect?
>
> Not a “reform” board.  The old Board, under public pressure and Court
> settlement mandates, put in place what few reforms we have.  But those
> reforms are entirely inadequate.  They offer no security to member/owners.
>  The Board can change those reforms at will.
>
> Our new Board members are failing to live up to their reform promises.
> For example, in a letter to the Hays Free Press in March, Larry Landaker
> said
>
> “If elected, I will introduce permanent reform with member-written By-Laws
> that can only be changed by member ratification.”  He asked for our votes
> as a reform candidate.
>
> Foolish us, I suppose.  We didn’t ask Larry when he’d get around to the
> reforms.  We just assumed from what he said that he actually meant what he
> said, and that it would be soon.
>
> One reason given for delay in revising the Bylaws is that no changes
> should be made until the entire set of Bylaws can be carefully studied and
> a comprehensive revision offered.  That’s B.S. It does not take
> rocket-science or word-smithing by a world class lawyer to go ahead and
> make clear in the Bylaws right now that certain basic issues are to be
> decided by the member/owners rather than by the Board alone.
>
> This most important reform – establishing basic member rights that can
> only be changed by member ratification - could be adopted now, without
> interfering even slightly with whatever comprehensive reforms might be
> adopted at some later time.  The number of Directors and Districts, for
> example, can easily be decided later.  Let’s get on with first things
> first.
>
> (Note:  Thanks, Board member Williams, for your common sense in voting
> against wasting our money by sending out all those checks. Now, let’s see
> the reforms we were promised.)
>
>
>
> Carlos Higgins
>
> Member since 1974
>
> 512 258 3564
> CarlosTX at sbcglobal.net_______________________________________________
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