MEA board still mum on dismissals

PALMER — At Monday’s meeting of the Matanuska Electric Association’s board of directors, the room was filled to overflowing with many audience members holding picket signs and itching to say their piece.

But before they could open their mouths, the board voted not to allow audience comments. And, shortly afterward, the board went into closed-door session.

Though the crowd thinned out and open seats appeared, having to wait for the board to return didn’t calm everyone’s ire. The board returned to a full house.

In its absence, it seemed clear the topic the board was discussing. The meeting had one item of business — reassessing “the current situation.”

“The situation” most agreed is this: Last week the board voted to fire two long-time executives — Assistant General Manager Tuckerman Babcock and Information Technology Director Bruce Scott. And they also directed its attorney, Robin Brena, to start the process of firing General Manager Wayne Carmony.

Though the board’s reasons have remained a secret — discussed behind closed doors — the general consensus among certain elements of the co-op’s membership is that Carmony’s firing has been a long time coming. On the other side, folks warn of dire consequences if Carmony’s replacement isn’t as willing as he was to fight like a tiger to keep costs down.

Many of the picket signs Monday bore slogans relating to Scott or Babcock. Others spoke of illegal meetings. At the start of the meeting, Brena tried to throw some water on the illegal meetings brushfire.

“Frankly, I’m getting tired of hearing the view that meetings that are being held by the board are illegal,” Brena said.

In his reading of the bylaws, he said, although advance notice is required for meetings to be held — a particular bugbear among those who would all them illegal — so long as every board member has been notified and thus has a chance to attend, the notice is proper.

As to the opposition’s other bugbear — meetings supposedly held with no notification or public involvement at which all board members were present — Brena said that MEA business wasn’t conducted there.

“That is analogous, in my mind, to all of the members of the board deciding to attend a seminar.“

Speaking, apparently, to those who would disagree with him, Brena said, “If there’s another analysis of these bylaws I’d like to know what that is.”

Board Member David Glines said the bylaws appear to be confusing to co-op members.

He went on to point out the illegal meeting question isn’t one raised exclusively by those who oppose the members of the board who seem to be voting in the majority. Indeed, he noted, it came up in May when members often in that majority — Peter Burchell, Katie Hurley and Janet Kincaid — walked out of a meeting declaring it illegal.

For his part, Larry DeVilbiss, who, like Glines, more often than not is on the losing side of board votes, said that he has a different view than Brena.

“I consider when more than four of us, more than three of us, get together and are paid to be there, it is an MEA meeting,” he said.

Later in the meeting, board President Lois Lester brought up a separate issue entirely, asking Glines and DeVilbiss why they were seen together recently meeting with a lawyer.

DeVilbiss said he’s worried over the liability the board — and himself individually — might face in the current fracas over the firings.

“There’s no insurance policy that’s going to cover me,” he said.

Coming back from executive session, Glines moved that the board ask a Superior Court judge to recommend an auditor the board could use to look into both the firings and the closed meetings, among other things. The motion failed.

Board Member Kit Jones made a motion asking Brena to look over a letter from legal counsel for Scott and Babcock and craft a response. There were no details given about the letter’s content. That motion passed.

DeVilbiss asked that another attorney be used.

“This would be a golden opportunity for the board to spread the risk and avoid the appearance that we’re featherbedding one firm,” he said.

Burchell took umbrage at that.

“Featherbedding is when you don’t do any work for your money and he has consistently gone above and beyond,” he said of Brena.

Next the board reaffirmed the motions made in the firings.

“I will abstain since I wasn’t at that meeting but I’m appalled that the manager did not attend any portion of that executive session,” DeVilbiss said.

Finally, the board unanimously decided to task an independent auditor with looking into activities at the warehouse.

The board didn’t get more specific than that. Babcock has recently raised questions of whether Kincaid’s son was given preferential treatment at MEA’s warehouse.

“I’m pleased that the board is willing to look at this,” Glines said.

“I’m glad to see this, let the chips fall where they may,” Burchell added.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.