La Plata Electric Association’s Board of Directors voted last week to delay the power cooperative’s annual director’s election and member meeting that had been scheduled for May 22.
The annual meeting and election will now occur Sept. 18 for the regional power cooperative.
Directors decided to postpone the election after John Purser, a two-time candidate and self-styled transparency watchdog of the electrical co-op, brought a bylaw discrepancy to the attention of interim CEO Graham Smith earlier this month.
Purser questioned when and how information on becoming a candidate would be published, at which time Smith, who is also the co-op’s general counsel, found that two of the co-op’s bylaws establishing noticing timelines for election information were inconsistent. The timeline that the co-op had followed did not comply with state statute.
The co-op was operating off a bylaw stating that directors shall provide information on how to file a petition to be a candidate at least 75 days before an election. However, a different bylaw stated that the information must be posted three months before the nomination packets are due back. Petition packets are due 60 days before the election, meaning the information on how to become a candidate must be posted at least five months before the election – and not 75 days.
“The three-month one conforms with Colorado state law, the 75-day deadline does not conform to Colorado state law,” Smith told the Board of Directors at a meeting March 13.
The co-op’s internal deadlines for noticing the election were set according to 75-day bylaw provision, meaning that staff could not complete the statutorily required noticing in time for the May 22 election.
The lack of conformity came from a 2011 amendment that brought the LPEA bylaws into conformity with state law – however, conflicting language was not removed at the time.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve tried to locate as many of these internally inconsistent bylaws and cure as many of them as I can,” Smith told the board last week. “I will admit that I had not seen this one before, hadn’t caught it, and it is a miss.”
The board adopted a resolution postponing the annual meeting and election, and also gave direction on a bylaw amendment that would bring the co-op's operating code into conformity with itself and in line with state law.
The drafted amendment, which can be viewed on LPEA’s website, strikes the language referring to a 75-day noticing deadline.
Directors will vote on the amendment at the April 17 meeting.
Information on how to run as a candidate in the Sept. 18 election is now available on LPEA’s website at lpea.coop/elections. Applications are due by 1 p.m. July 22.
There are four LPEA districts, and seats held by the following candidates are up for reelection:
- District 1 – Archuleta County: Kirsten Skeehan.
- District 2 – South and west La Plata County: Kohler McInnis.
- District 3 – City of Durango: Ted Compton.
- District 4 – North and east La Plata County: Tim Wheeler.
Purser has not said whether he will run for the District 4 seat – a position he has twice sought, although he has said he will not let anyone run for the seat uncontested. He said he was more focused on finding candidates to run in all four races, noting that he was “really unimpressed by what they’re doing.”
rschafir@durangoherald.com
