Is MEA board racist?

‘They treated her with contempt'

November 13, 2005

MARK KELSEY\Frontiersman managing editor

PALMER - A charge of racism has been leveled against the Matanuska Electric Association board of directors, reigniting a controversy over the way assignments are made to committees that steer the course of the co-op, which had $63.4 million in operating revenues last year.

Lois Lester, who is African American, has served on the MEA board since her election in April 2000, longer than any other current board member for the 48,000-member co-op. Yet she is repeatedly given just a single committee assignment, while others get more, and she says she's tired of it.

&#8220It's frustrating. I was elected by the people. They put their trust in me twice, and because of that I'm determined to do what they expect me to do,” Lester said. &#8220The co-op members want things out in the open. They want a co-op that is run honestly.”

In a letter to the editor of this newspaper, Lester wrote that she had been &#8220relegated to the end of the line, or is it the back of the bus?” She said she wasn't playing a race card, but others who served with her on the board in the past said maybe she should be.

&#8220She's right,” said Michael Janecek, who served on the MEA board from 2001-04. &#8220They treated her with contempt in the name of racism, many times, and said derogatory things to her.”

Janecek singled out former board member Bill Folsom, in particular, for his racist treatment of Lester. &#8220Bill did that a number of times and treated her with disrespect at the board table.”

Folsom, who left the board in September after 11 years of service, called the charge &#8220absolutely ridiculous.”

&#8220That's just a bunch of bunk,” Folsom said. &#8220I was in the marches in Washington, D.C., in 1963. I put my butt on the line for civil rights.”

Scott Daugharty, who served on the board from 2002-05, stopped short of attributing Lester's troubles to racism. But he said he witnessed improper treatment of her in his time on the board and thinks she has a case for discrimination.

&#8220I wouldn't defend Mr. Folsom, but I'm not going to call him (racist) either,” Daugharty said. &#8220He would say things that were derogatory in nature toward her. His attitude toward her was not professional.”

Folsom dismissed the personal criticism as well as the charge that committee assignments were not handled fairly. He would not speculate on why assignments were made the way they were, but he said Lester, Janecek and Daugharty, all of whom shared the same frustration about committee assignments, were just trying to cause trouble.

&#8220These people don't care about the truth. They care about stirring up something,” Folsom said. &#8220In my opinion, they didn't do what's in the best interest of MEA members. I don't think they're the best for the organization.”

Daugharty said that meant simply that the three did not act in the best interest of MEA management, with whom they all have disagreements.

For that reason, he said, none of the three were ever given an assignment on a policy-setting committee.

&#8220I always advocated that there should be one (assignment) for a dissenting opinion that was not the management line,” he said.

&#8220We wanted decisions to be in the interest of all members. We wanted fairness for everyone. The way committee assignments were done did not show fairness to everyone.”

Daugharty said Lester's complaint is legitimate. Because she doesn't toe the management line on every issue, she's treated unfairly.

&#8220The committee assignments were a sham,” he said. &#8220She's been systematically excluded from making that board stronger by having diverse opinions.”

Janecek said controversy over committees is nothing new.

He said there were &#8220lots of fights” about assignments when he was on the board, and the way they were handled hasn't changed.

&#8220They totally, completely, isolated Lois and I. They made the assignments, and they always held the reins,” he said, referring to the board's majority bloc.

&#8220We have independent minds. We want to make our own decisions and not do what we're told by them,” Janecek said.

Board president Lee Jordan said he disagrees with the notion that diversity is unwelcome or that dissent is punished.

&#8220I don't see where that's coming from. I just don't see it that way,” he said. &#8220I can't speak to what happened before I became involved, but I certainly haven't seen anything of that type with the board or management.”

Jordan said he was &#8220outraged” by the insinuation of racism in Lester's letter. He said he has witnessed no mistreatment of her.

&#8220It's not true. I see no basis to it,” he said. &#8220I would do anything I can to get rid of that perception.”

Except, he said, appoint Lester to the strategic planning committee, as she would like.

&#8220It's my obligation to pick people for committees based on their strengths,” Jordan said.

&#8220I want to have people who have been involved for a while. I don't want to put a new person on that committee.”

Jordan said Lester's complaint may be related to the upcoming MEA election. &#8220Sometimes complaining is a way to get free publicity,” Jordan said.

Lester said with a laugh that she isn't sure if she'll run for a third term.

&#8220I look at this as a fairness issue. It's about doing the right thing and moving away from board control,” Lester said.

Lester's seat will be subject to elections during the annual MEA meeting in April.

Frontiersman reporter Dawn De Busk contributed to this story.