An open letter to the MEA board

Since once again you allowed no public comment from the member-owners at Monday’s MEA board meeting, I am forced to ask our newspaper to print this for your response.

On April 13 you fired Bruce Scott, without cause, on his 60th birthday — a man who has worked for the co-operative 25 years.

That is more years than your combined years on the board: Director Jones, Director Hurley, Director Kincaid, President Lester, Director Burchell and Director Glines.

And you did it without public debate, as the bylaws require. And without recognizing his 25 years of service to the members. And without explanation. In doing so you not only ruined his career, but marred his life.

And you did all the debate about it in yet another secret meeting. A clear violation of the Bylaws Article III, section 8 where it specifically instructs you: Article III, Paragraph (a),1 “It is the intent of the association that the actions and deliberations of the Board of Directors be made openly.”

And paragraph (a) 3.”The member owners, by delegating the authority to the Board of Directors, do not give the board the right to decide what is good for the members to know and what is not good for the members to know.”

And finally in paragraph (a) 4. “The right of the member-owners to remain informed shall be protected so that they retain control over the association.”

Have you forgotten these directives of the bylaws?

And if you discussed this decision to fire him, in executive session, then Article III, section 8, paragraph d, specifically requires you to allow the person to request a public discussion. Did you invite him? Did you allow him to request public discussion?

Either way it appears you have violated our co-operative bylaws.

These bylaws are the only source of your power over the co-operative. The bylaws are the only document that defines your relationship to the co-operative and to us the member-owners. They are not to be dismissed by cute legal arguments. You don’t need a lawyer to tell you how to uphold them. You took an oath, publically, in the MEA board room saying you would abide by them.

I call on you today to right this wrong. To honor Bruce Scott for his 25 years of service to MEA, to openly tell the member-owners why you fired him, and to honor his contract completely.

People much wiser than us foresaw this day coming, when a political change in the board would come, and to protect our MEA employees from such a day, so they wrote contracts so the board would not ride roughshod over our employees. Certainly you have the right to fire him. But we members have a right to know why.

Honor the very letter of the contracts and in so doing treat our MEA employees with dignity, honor the intent of the board members who have gone before us, and allow yourselves to go to sleep at night knowing you are board members who honored your oath to the bylaws, and the dignity of MEA’s employees.

David J. Dahms is a former MEA board member.