A chance to change the direction of Cobb EMC, the Marietta-based electric co-op embroiled in controversy in recent years, drew an unheard-of crowd to the utility’s annual meeting Saturday.
More than 3,600 member-customers went to Piedmont Church over several hours and cast ballots on two measures. Meetings in past years drew a few hundred at most.
One measure, a management-backed proposal to allow mail-in ballots in future elections to the board of directors, was overwhelmingly defeated in what some customers called the first step in reforming the co-operative.
Members also voted to cut pension benefits to future board members.
“I think the corruption at Cobb EMC has been well documented and the people are sick of it,” said Tripper Sharp, who as among plaintiffs in a 2007 lawsuit that followed reports in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the EMC and an associated for-profit business.
The change to mail-in voting would have allowed more of the Marietta-based co-op’s 180,000 members to vote for board members, EMC leaders said. But customers pushing for changes at the utility said mail-in ballots would create an unfair advantage since the co-op can use unlimited resources to promote incumbents.
Cobb EMC primarily serves the northwest suburbs of metro Atlanta, as well as some farther-flung areas. Customers in the EMC’s farthest location – the Pataula District in southwest Georgia -- were bused in to vote, said EMC spokesman Sam Kelly. Kelly was unsure who provided the transportation.
In preliminary results, 2,561 members voted against mail-in ballots, 1,113 customers voted for them, and five abstained.
The 2007 lawsuit alleged that former CEO Dwight Brown and other co-op leaders unlawfully profited from establishing a for-profit affiliate company and siphoning assets for their benefit. A 2008 settlement set in motion Brown’s retirement, along with plans for a membership meeting and elections, which had been stalled because of the ongoing litigation.
Brown is currently under indictment on related charges and was replaced in July as CEO by the company’s former chief operating officer, Chip Nelson.
Also Saturday, members voted to end long-term retirement benefits paid to the board of directors. Along with pay for attending meetings, health benefits and life insurance, directors also receive $1,100 per month in retirement pay for 16 years after they have left the board and reached age 65, regardless of how long they were on it.
Several customers at Saturday’s meeting called the payments excessive and said board members benefitted unjustly from part-time work.
Before the polls opened at 12:30 p.m., about 500 customers filled the church, most with harsh words for the board. Rick Wemmers carried a tree branch to the podium during his comments on behalf of the lawsuit plaintiffs, and talked of “getting a switch out and letting [the board] know.”
The hostility was obvious, said RJ Patel, the newest EMC board member who was appointed in May 2010 to fill a deceased member’s term. Patel was not offered the retirement benefit.
“Nobody has sat down in front of me and gotten to know me before judging me,” he said. “I would like to know specifically what it is that is bothering [some members], and how can we provide information to offset that. I would like us sitting in face-to-face, but we have to come with a tone of wanting to understand.”
Nine of 10 board members (one member is currently hospitalized) attended the meeting, but they did not sit together or address the crowd.
Elections for all 10 seats will be conducted in three rounds, beginning Nov. 12. Reform groups have nominated some candidates.
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
