MEA board activates bylaws committee

PALMER -- Matanuska Electric Association's board recently agreed unanimously to activate the association's bylaws committee and charge its members with the task of reforming the association's campaign disclosure laws.

Board member Lois Lester made a motion at the board's April 8 meeting that the board be activated, an action she said was necessary after the disclosure rules did not hold up in court.

"I think the way the campaign disclosure rules are set up -- it's a disservice to members and a disservice to candidates," Lester said.

She added that the committee should look into clarifying disclosures for groups and organizations that presently advertise on behalf of candidates without having to report the amount of money they spend or where that money comes from.

Board member Linda Shattuck suggested the committee go a step further and compare MEA's rules with those of the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

"I amend that, if we truly want to fall under some disclosure law and make sure everything is up to snuff as it should be, that we look into falling under APOC," Shattuck said.

Stephen Ellis, MEA's chief corporate counsel, advised the board that it was not possible -- without amending Alaska law -- for a public utility to go under the jurisdiction of APOC, but the board could adopt APOC's rules.

Shattuck added that adopting APOC's rules -- or any others -- would do no good unless caveats were included to make the rules enforceable.

"No matter what we do, if we can't enforce it in some way, shape or form, it's not useful," Shattuck said.

Board member Bill Folsom suggested leaving the time-frame on the job open-ended to allow staff ample time to deal with the issue.

"I do agree that we do need some major overhaul," Folsom said. "I hate to see it just limited to APOC."

Board member Michael Janecek voiced his support, adding that MEA's present bylaws are "about as clear as mud." He added, however, that any enforcement should not fall into the hands of the board.

"I have no intention in attaching to any of that any power of the board to remove candidates other than for failure to attend," Janecek said. "A recall is the way that board members are removed."

Board president Larry DeVilbiss reminded the board that the motion was simply to begin looking at the disclosure-related bylaws, not to outline every aspect of them. When asked whether members would be required to vote on the matter, he said it was likely MEA members would vote on the matter in a year.

Folsom suggested moving up that date.

"We could look into the cost of having just a special mail-out ballot," Folsom said, "so it's in place prior to the next annual meeting. It's something to think about."

The board tinkered with the wording of the motion several times before voting on it, and the motion failed by a 4-2 vote. But a subsequent motion by Folsom to activate the existing bylaw committee and direct it to bring back suggested amendments to the campaign disclosure rules before September ultimately passed unanimously.

Janecek amended Folsom's motion to add that the suggestions should reflect the campaign disclosure rules of APOC -- and that they should be verified by an APOC director to ensure no rules that could apply to MEA were left out, and that no rules that did not apply to MEA were left in.

"I would like [the suggestions to be] verified by the director of APOC, so that we do not step out of bounds …," Janecek said, "so our campaign disclosure rules become clear and easy to understand and the reporting forms are clear and easy to understand."