Process begins to seat new MEA board member

PALMER — With the abrupt resignation Monday of David Dahms from the Matanuska Electric Association board of directors, at least three remaining board members said they were “stunned” and baffled as to Dahms’ reasons for resigning.

“Stunned, absolutely flabbergasted,” director Janet Kincaid said when asked how she took the news.

“I hated to see him quit,” Kincaid said of Dahms. Once he’s replaced and a new director installed, she said, “I’m hoping that we can work together as a board.”

Peter Burchell, another director, said he was also sad to see Dahms go.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for David. We don’t agree on a lot of things a lot of times but we’ve always respectfully disagreed,” Burchell said.

Katie Hurley, a third director, had little to say beyond, “I was very surprised. I don’t know why he resigned.”

Efforts to reach Dahms and a fourth director, Larry DeVilbiss, were unsuccessful.

On Monday, MEA Assistant General Manager Tuckerman Babcock said the exact process for replacing a director has shifted over the years. The co-op’s bylaws call for a majority of board members to agree on a replacement but do not outline a process.

“I would just use the same process that was used when director Dahms was appointed to the board,” Burchell said. Dahms was seated to replace a director who resigned in 2005.

Burchell and Kincaid both advocated a pretty standard process — open the position up for applications, then meet to interview applicants and select Dahms’ replacement.

“The meeting on [Oct. 13] would be an appropriate time to define the process, open up the application process and then by the next meeting be able to seat someone on the board,” Burchell said.

Any process that moves faster than that, he said, would be unfair to applicants.

Kincaid, for her part, said she hopes for a healthy crop of candidates.

“I already had a couple of people that called and said they’d be interested,” she said. “It’s kind of a thankless job and isn’t always pleasant and fun but it’s a challenge, and if you believe in the co-op and believe it could be better then maybe you should serve.”

But she, said, she hopes the process won’t delay any further a decision as to whether she violated utility bylaws and, if so, what the board should do about it. The board has delayed action on the issue at its last two meetings.

“I sincerely hope not,” she said when asked if finding Dahms’ replacement would delay board action. “I’m just going to insist that they do this.”

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