MEA committee snubs board president

PALMER — Conspicuously absent from the Matanuska Electric Association’s nominating committee report for this year’s board election was one name familiar to MEA watchers — Board of Directors President Lois Lester.

Lester, along with Marvin Yoder and Katherine, ‘Kit’ Jones had submitted their names to the committee for possible inclusion on this year’s ballot for two at-large seats. When the committee returned its report Friday, Jones and Yoder were recommended for the ballot. Lester was not.

“I think it was intentional,” Lester said Monday, indicating she thought there were some on the committee who didn’t agree with the direction she’s taken the board as president.

She said she doesn’t agree that that’s how the decision should be made.

“It’s not a matter of not agreeing with what I’m doing, but it’s a matter of actually and honestly looking at an interview and deciding that the answer was so far in left field that they couldn’t possibly nominate me,” she said.

Lori Gorsch, who sits on the nominating committee, declined comment Monday.

“We interviewed all three candidates,” she said. And, “We just don’t have any comment.”

Lester said she plans to be on the ballot. There are two ways to do it — go through the committee or collect signatures on a petition. Monday afternoon she said she’d already filed her petition.

“I filed this morning. I had 81 signatures. I only need 50,” she said.

Asked if she was surprised by the committee’s decision, she said she wasn’t.

“Nothing surprises me,” she said.

She pointed out that if no one had gone the petition route, the nominating committee’s decision would have negated the need to have an election.

“They have selected two people and there’s two seats,” she said.

This year’s ballot is likely to be an abnormally long one. Last week, the utility’s bylaws committee gave the board of directors a long list of bylaw amendments for inclusion on the ballot. Each will be voted on individual by the membership.

“I don’t know how long the ballot will be, but it’s going to be a big one,” said MEA spokeswoman Lorali Carter.

The changes include a number of issues that were controversial in last year’s election.

For instance: The committee recommended that newly elected board members be seated at the first regular board meeting after the yearly election, which occurs in the spring, rather than in July as has been the case. A group of co-op members tried and failed to change that rule last year.

There are also changes to campaign contribution disclosure rules, which some have said were too stringent and complicated.

There are also changes that would do away with the requirement that newly elected board members submit to drug tests prior to being seated. Mike Janecek, a past board member and current member of the bylaws committee, has said in the past that he felt the drug test was aimed at unseating him.

At MEA’s annual meeting last year, a motion from the floor to strike the requirement was ruled out of order.

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