Squabbles continue at MEA

PALMER — With the co-op’s annual meeting more than two weeks past, Matanuska Electric Association board meetings haven’t seen the last of the protestors that attended meetings leading up to the vote.

On Monday, the same issue that the protestors came to speak on came up again when Kay Slack asked the board to stop holding what she considers to be illegal meetings.

“If there have not been open meetings you are in violation of the bylaws,” Slack said. Violating the bylaws, she said, jeopardized the co-op’s tax exemptions.

She also raised two issues that came up immediately following the election – the legitimacy of board president Lois Lester and board member Janet Kincaid.

Lester, her critics have alleged, should not have been eligible to take her seat since changes to the bylaws instituted a limit of three consecutive terms per board member.

Kincaid, her critics have said, should have stepped down because of tightened conflict of interest rules and the belief that her son is doing business with the co-op.

Board Attorney Robin Brena has said at previous meetings that, in his reading of the bylaws, no illegal meetings have been held and has requested anyone who thinks differently to explain exactly why they think so.

In previous interviews, Kincaid has said she has no conflict of interest because at present her son does no business with the co-op.

As for Lester, makers of the bylaw amendment thought it was to take effect after she was already seated. In essence they believed Lester was the beneficiary of a grandfather clause.

Dewey Taylor, who sits on the bylaw committee, said just that at the Monday’s meeting. He said it appears to him that a lot of members are confused about the bylaws. This might stem, he said, from a pair of factors that govern board procedures in addition to the bylaws – past practices and lawsuits that may have changed procedures without those changes being reflected in the bylaws.

“Those of us that looked at them closely for a number of months are also confused,” Taylor said of the bylaws.    

Another thing tripping up board members, Brena said, appears to be Robert’s Rules of Order. He said he spent some time researching good authorities on the rules and passed out copies of one resource he found useful.

Soon after, Slack stood up to raise a point of order, saying that the meeting being held was illegal because of the presence of Lester and Kincaid.

“Mrs. Slack you are out of order,” Lester said.

“No, you are,” replied a number of audience members.

Board member Larry DeVilbiss spoke in defense of Slack but was cut off by a request from Lester, who asked him to speak to the motion at hand, which dealt with the board’s meeting schedule.

“Please speak to the calendar,” Lester said, repeating her request as DeVilbiss attempted to go on.

“I guess if the board won’t support me speaking I will speak to the calendar,” he said and asked that next month’s meeting be moved up a week, a motion that passed.