MEA appointments spark debate

MAT-SU -- As one of his first actions as board president, Matanuska Electric Association director Lee Jordan made committee assignments, not fully expecting the task would be controversial.

The MEA board has four committees -- audit, finance, human resources and strategic affairs. Up to three board members can serve on each -- more, and the co-op would have to advertise the meeting dates and times, limiting flexibility of these informal committees.

The committees serve as a point of communication between the board and MEA management. The finance committee, for example, looks at the co-op's budget and how it lines up with the co-op's goals.

Jordan said the week before the Aug. 9 board meeting when committee assignments would be announced, he contacted board members to discuss assignments. When he spoke with board member Lois Lester, she indicated she was interested in serving on one committee in particular -- the strategic planning committee.

That committee, Jordan said, will play an important role in MEA's upcoming decisions. The committee will examine the cooperative's strategic plan and other matters, such as its future power supplier.

Lester said Monday she had served on the co-op's audit committee for most of the four years she's served on the co-op board. When Jordan asked her what committees she was interested in serving on, Lester said she'd prefer to serve on the strategic planning committee. Jordan asked if she was interested in any other committee assignments, and Lester said that was the only committee she was interested in.

"They're ineffectual," Lester said of the other committees. "All the audit committee does is listen to the … auditor and approve what he says."

Lester said she felt, after four years of serving on the board, she was ready for more than rubber-stamping -- and the strategic planning committee seemed to be the only place that was available.

"It has to do with the co-op's future -- and to me, that's thinking and looking ahead," Lester said. "Normally, what happens is, on boards of this size, the committee assignments are rotated."

Jordan said he had made committee assignments with an eye to continuity. He said he hoped, as the board's new president, to bring more harmony to an often-split body.

Jordan said he especially sought continuity on a committee that deals with complex and fluid issues, so he kept past presidents Larry DeVilbiss and Bill Folsom on the committee.

Lester said that as one of co-op's senior board members, she felt snubbed.

"I've been on the board of a charitable trust fund for years," Lester said. "When I was working, I was on committees to select the major people, the movers and shakers, of the University [of Alaska]. Tell me why I can't be on that committee."