MEA board to test 7 p.m. meeting time for 2 months

PALMER -- Matanuska Electric Association board members voted Monday to, at members' requests, move its meeting time to 7 p.m. for a two-month trial period.

Janet Kincaid has, for the past few months, been diligent in her requests for the board to move its meeting time from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in order to accommodate member-owners who work and are unable to get time off from their job in order to attend the cooperative's meetings.

In an unexpected motion toward the end of the meeting, newly seated board member Aaron Downing moved to change the meeting time of the February and March meetings to 7 p.m.

"We're not here for ourselves, we're here for our members," Downing said, after introducing the motion. "All I'm saying is let's try it for two months and see what happens."

February and March, Downing said, are the two months in which, typically, there are more member-owners in attendance because of the upcoming elections. The board decided in a split vote to move the meeting times for those two months and see whether there are more people in attendance. If there are, the board may look at switching the meeting time on a more permanent basis.

After the two-month trial period is over, the board members discussed holding a workshop to review the figures and see if attendance was up, as well as how much extra funding, through pay for wage-earning employees who attend the meeting, a later meeting time would necessitate.

Five board members voted in favor of the plan. Board member Wes Pollock voted against the change and board president Bill Folsom abstained from voting.

'… the ML&P [Municipal Light and Power] commission meets at noon with lunch," Folsom added when he said he'd rather not vote. "Now that's not bad."

Pollock, before the vote was called, said he believed people were more interested in relaxing with their families in the evening than attending meetings.

"People have Little League games to go to -- they have lots of other things that they attend to," Pollock said. "Many of our families and other meter-holders commute to Anchorage. Seven o'clock, I think, falls right in the middle of their dinner hour."

"I think all we can do is just try it and see," said board member Linda Shattuck.

"I hope it's publicized enough so that people will turn out," said Kincaid after the meeting. "I think it's a small victory."