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Saturday, June 13, 2009
Leaders of Socorro Co-Op Cling to Power
By Thomas J. Cole
Journal Staff Writer
SOCORRO — The powers-that-be at the Socorro Electric Cooperative have been rooting around again in their bag of dirty tricks.
Out came the race card at a Public Regulation Commission hearing Monday in a dispute between a majority of co-op trustees and customers seeking reforms at the utility.
The majority trustees and their supporters derisively referred to dissidents as newcomers to the area. We all know "newcomer" is code for "Anglo" in that context.
One supporter said the reformers were well-prepared for the hearing but added, "Hitler also had brilliant reports."
It was a nice touch.
One of the co-op customers critical of trustees was a man who moved from Germany to Socorro four years ago to work at the nearby National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
Changes to co-op by-laws proposed by the dissidents include a smaller board of trustees, fewer trustee meetings, a realigning of trustee districts and a guarantee that board meetings are open to the public.
Not exactly radical ideas, and "dissidents" may by the wrong word for this group. They are just average folks in the community led in part by trustee Charlie Wagner.
The Socorro Electric Cooperative Reform Committee claims more than 650 co-op customers have signed a petition supporting its proposed bylaw changes.
The reform movement began after I reported in March 2008 that the co-op spends more on compensation for its trustees than any of the other 17 electric co-ops in New Mexico.
The Socorro co-op reported to the IRS that trustees devoted an average of 5.25 hours a week to the jobs in 2007 and earned an average of $29,043 in compensation, including health, dental and vision insurance.
Not surprisingly, most trustees see the proposed reforms as threats to their compensation, other perks and their influence over co-op hiring and contracts.
Rural electric co-ops are owned by their customers, or members, and are supposed to be democratically governed.
But the majority trustees have thwarted attempts by the dissidents to have co-op members vote on the proposed reforms.
The trustees used a minor procedural mistake by the reformers to keep the proposed changes from being voted on at the annual members meeting April 25.
The dissidents then tried at the meeting to have a vote to put the proposed changes on the agenda for the next annual meeting.
In a questionable move, the majority trustees nixed that vote by deciding many members had left the meeting, ruling that a quorum of members no longer existed and adjourning the session.
The hearing by the PRC, which has authority over electric utilities, was a response to a request by dissidents that it intervene in the fight.
About 120 people — about evenly divided between the two sides — jammed into City Council chambers on Monday afternoon for the hearing.
It was evident from the start that the majority trustees weren't interested in having the hearing take place. Co-op trustee Milton Ulibarri immediately raised the issue that the crowd exceeded the occupancy rating of 75 people for the room.
PRC Chairman Sandy Jones responded that the meeting would go forward unless the city enforced the occupancy rating. It didn't.
Wagner said the co-op had been hijacked from its members by the majority trustees.
"Let's make these trustees understand who owns the co-op," he said.
Another leader of the reform movement, Charlene West, said no one had accused the trustees of not doing their jobs.
"The bottom line is people are speaking. Listen," West told the trustees. "Are we in communism?"
The majority trustees and their supporters countered that the trustees have followed the co-op's bylaws related to votes on amendments, that lots of co-ops around the country have trustee districts with uneven populations and that trustees work hard for their compensation.
They also said trustee meetings have been opened to members and that those trustees who have been on the board for many years offer valuable experience.
Ulibarri also said Wagner had a dark motive for seeking the reforms. "His agenda is to control the cooperative," he said.
Ultimately, Jones, fellow PRC Commissioner Jason Marks and PRC staff members decided the commission didn't have the legal authority to intervene in the dispute.
PRC oversight over the internal affairs of co-ops is limited, because the utilities are supposed to be democratically controlled by members.
But Marks said the majority trustees need to be concerned that so many members feel they aren't being heard by the board.
"I think you need to open up," he told the trustees. "I think that would handle a lot of this."
Jones also had some words for the trustees: Work to resolve their differences with the dissidents or face the possibility that the reform movement could grow and eventually result in their being tossed from the board.
We'll see if the trustees were listening.
UpFront is a daily front-page opinion column. Thom Cole can be reached in Santa Fe at (505) 992-6280 or at tcole@abqjournal.com
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