In MEA election, character does matter

MARK KELSEY/On the Mark

March 4, 2007

My Matanuska Electric Association board of directors ballot arrived in the mail last week. I'll state up front that I voted, without hesitation, for Katie Hurley.

Critics of the local member-owned, but management-controlled electrical cooperative would say such an admission almost surely will get my ballot disqualified, Hurley not being the management-favored candidate from the Wasilla district.

I suppose some of those MEA management types will howl, too, at the perceived unfairness of one candidate getting singled out like this in the local newspaper. But given the lengths to which the same folks go to grease the skids for their own candidates, such cries ooze hypocrisy.

That glossy pamphlet sent out with every ballot is a prime example. It contains a prominent front-page announcement about the upcoming annual meeting that, shockingly, is signed by a candidate for the board.

Anyone who doubts that this wouldn't pass the red-face test in a real and genuinely fair election needs only to call the local office of the state Division of Elections and ask if such blatant boosterism would be allowed on a Division of Elections pamphlet.

Take a look at the less-than-objective candidate &#8220bios” on the MEA Web site, too. It is not difficult for the shrewd reader to discern who the management-favored candidates are.

In what is supposed to be a nonpartisan election, for example, one candidate's party affiliation is listed. (Hint: It's not the party favored by those in management and their shills who comprise the board majority.)

Another candidate is given the ultimate slap in the face when his alleged 25-year-

old sins against MEA are

enumerated.

I suppose those in charge of such things would justify this kind of patently unfair treatment with platitudes about character and how it matters. Well, I've been thinking a lot about character lately, too, and how it relates to this important MEA board election.

Some of those thoughts came into critically sharp focus when I read the candidate statement of incumbent Dallas Massie, the board member who is benefiting from the front-page plug for his candidacy on MEA's election pamphlet. His statement is filled with noble-sounding niceties about &#8220unselfishness,” &#8220public service” and &#8220quality of community.”

How does this relate to character? In this case, it's a simple matter of word vs. deed - which is where the very bright line of distinction is drawn between Massie and Hurley.

In her long and distinguished career, Hurley has a proven record of putting the public interest first and conducting herself always with integrity, honor and accountability. In his brief tenure on the MEA board, Massie has established a record only of jumping on the board-majority bandwagon, armed with a rubber-stamp for any dubious management decision, regardless of how vigorously it shuts out the input and concerns of member-owners.

Longtime MEA watchers know the laundry list. It starts with countless frivolous lawsuits lost over the years that ratepayers, without their assent, have had to foot the

bill for.

How many lawsuits and how many tens of millions of dollars squandered? Try to find out. It's one of many closely guarded secrets that MEA management, which loves to talk about transparency, refuses to share with its members.

The election process, and festering doubts about its integrity, have long been a source of concern among ratepayers. This go-round, in addition to the shenanigans listed above, reform candidate Dan Tucker, in the Palmer district, gets the shaft by improperly being designated, on the ballot, as a Wasilla candidate.

Management's response,

as articulated by Tuckerman Babcock, is: &#8220We're just doing what the bylaws direct us

to do.”

Really? Bylaws direct MEA managers to willfully mislead voters?

If this is true, then not only is it time for new bylaws, it's also time for a new management team that knows the difference between what's fair and what's not fair.

And what about that 76-page plan for the coal-fired power plant MEA wants its members to pay for? Shouldn't we, who are expected to pick up the tab on this staggeringly expensive facility, be allowed to know the details of what we'll be paying for? Katie Hurley sure thinks so.

Management, on the other hand, backed by its board-majority lackeys, thinks keeping members in the dark on the plan is just fine. After all, when you control the information, you can manipulate it however you please.

But don't bother trying to contact any board members about this through the MEA Web site. At present, there is only one link to contact anyone at MEA - the &#8220webmaster.” Just for fun, ask a question about any of this stuff and e-mail it in. See if you get a response.

When I inquired at MEA headquarters about the conspicuous lack of contact information on the Web site, the person in charge of keeping nosy reporters at bay told me, &#8220MEA is a little behind the times, technologically.”

The answer took me by surprise. It seemed a more appropriate rationale for MEA's choice to build a coal plant when most of the rest of the world is either using or developing more visionary means of power generation.

But, no. The explanation involved board members who simply aren't comfortable using computers.

This should comfort no one, since the implication is that we're supposed to march unquestioningly into our energy future, with all its complex and high-tech hurdles, behind people who can't even master e-mail.

This MEA board has it well within its power to put to rest all the questions and nagging criticisms about transparency and accountability that have dogged the co-op for years. A majority of board members chooses not to.

And that goes straight to the heart of character. Which is why I am happy to cast my ballot for Katie Hurley. She will be a strong advocate for the kind of long-needed change members deserve.

The public sector needs more people like Katie Hurley. And so, surely, does our MEA board.

Mark Kelsey is the Frontiersman's managing editor. Contact him at 352-2268 or by e-mail at mark.kelsey@frontiersman.com.