Three VEC Director Positions Open

 
As many of you know, 2010 brought a significant change to the structure of the VEC Board of Directors. Through a two-year redistricting process, VEC transitioned from a 13 to a 12 member Board comprised of seven District Directors, two Eastern Zone Directors at Large and three Western Zone Directors at Large. Because of the complexity of switching to the new design, all Director seats were up for election in 2010. Directors elected in 2010 served initial terms of one to four years with staggered elections from 2011 onward.

 This year VEC is seeking candidates for three Director positions. Below is a list of the seats that are up for election and the towns, districts and zones they represent: 

District 1 (one Director):

Averill, Averys Gore, Barton, Bloomfield, Brighton, Brownington, Brunswick, Canaan, Charleston, Ferdinand, Guildhall, Holland, Lemington, Lewis, Lyndon, Maidstone, Morgan, Newark, Norton, Sheffield, Sutton, Warners Grant, Warren Gore, Westmore, Wheelock 

District 6 (one Director):

Berkshire, Enosburg, Franklin, Georgia, Highgate, Montgomery, Richford, Sheldon, St. Albans Town, Swanton 

Western Zone – Director at Large (one Director):

Alburgh, Bakersfield, Belvidere, Berkshire, Bolton, Cambridge, Eden, Enosburg, Essex, Fairfax, Fairfield, Fletcher, Franklin, Georgia, Grand Isle, Highgate, Hinesburg, Huntington, Hyde Park, Isle LaMotte, Jericho,  Johnson, Milton, Montgomery, Morristown, North Hero, Richford, Richmond, Sheldon, Shelburne, South Hero, Starksboro, Stowe, St. Albans Town, St. George, Swanton, Underhill, Waterville, Westford, Williston 

If you are currently a VEC member, are not employed by the Cooperative, and are not in any way employed by, or have financial interest in, a business selling electric energy or supplies to the Cooperative, you are eligible to become a Director. Your principal residence must be within VEC territory and in the District or Zone in which you choose to run. 

Any member interested in running must first file a petition signed by at least 15 members from his or her District or Zone. The Bylaws provide the rules concerning submission of petitions.  Completed petitions will go through a review process according to the stipulations set forth in the Bylaws (Article IV, Section 3(c). The signer’s name and signature will be validated, and the electric account and membership must be in the signer’s name. The signatures must be from members who live in the District or Zone in which you choose to run. Only one name will count per membership. In the past there were instances where people thought they were members but their name was not actually on the electric account. Therefore their signature was disqualified. We encourage each candidate to obtain more than 15 signatures on his or her petition, and to contact VEC if they have any doubts about the signatures on their petitions. 

Once a candidate has all of his or her signatures, he or she must submit the petition along with a 200 word or less candidate statement and a photo to VEC no later than April 6, 2011, as stipulated in the Bylaws (Article IV, Section 2(a)). Early submission is encouraged.  Once the petitions have been received, they will be reviewed and the Secretary will post the nominations that qualify. 

All eligible candidates will be announced in the Spring 2011 issue of Coop Life. The statements of candidacy and ballots for Directors will be included with the Notice of Annual Meeting to members, which is scheduled for mailing on April 27th. 

Each member in District 1 will be allowed to vote for one Director from his or her District. Members who reside in District 6 and the Western Zone will cast a ballot for their District Director and for the Western Zone Director at Large. 

These are exciting times to serve the members of VEC. Every member should consider that your Co-op is a democratically run organization that functions best with member input. Take the next step-- become involved and run as a candidate for the Board of Directors. 

If you are interested in becoming a candidate please contact Amanda at 1-800-832-2667, extension 1131.