SMECO Annual Member Meeting
Originally Published: July 23, 2024
Board of Directors Election
Check your mail–did you receive SMECO’s 2024 Annual Meeting & Election notice? On August 21 at 6pm, SMECO customers can attend the meeting at Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department’s social hall. Enclosed with the meeting notice is a voting ballot with a list of candidates for the Board of Directors, as well as an information booklet with election information and candidate biographies.
Importantly, voting can only take place via the provided ballot or online. Voting will not occur at the Annual Meeting which, instead, is a regular business meeting. A quorum is established at the meeting by including “ballots cast by mail or submitted online” to reach “500 participating members. Only 50 members are required to attend the meeting in person,” according to the information booklet. The agenda has not yet been released.
The information booklet describes the election process and duties of Directors. “SMECO has 15 directors, and every five years directors are elected to three-year terms…[and] meet every month to oversee the operations of the cooperative.” Directors are responsible for naming the CEO, and decide “the powers, duties and compensation” for all SMECO “officers, board-appointed committees, and employees,” according to SMECO bylaws. Directors also decide when or if SMECO members will receive a refund of capital credits after evaluating “the financial condition of the cooperative.”
Candidates for the Board are selected by a nominating committee of 5-11 SMECO members chosen by the Board of Directors. The committee “prepares and posts a list of nominations at the principal office of the Cooperative at least 60 days prior to the [annual] meeting,” according to SMECO bylaws. Any “15 or more members acting together may make nominations by petition” at least 90 days before the meeting. The bylaws require notice of the meeting, along with a voting ballot and candidate information. However, there is no member notification requirement for deadlines to submit candidate nominations.
Four candidates are vying to represent Calvert/Anne Arundel Counties, two for Charles, and two for St. Mary’s. SMECO members may vote for candidates in ALL counties, in an at-large voting process. Members throughout the service area of Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s will vote. W. Rayner Blair III, a SMECO Board member since 1999, and William R. Cullins III, member since 2010, are the St. Mary’s County candidates.
I previously covered the proposed SMECO rate increase, which has an upcoming public hearing tonight at 7PM. Read the article here: https://www.facebook.com/informedstmarys/posts/479462234673532
The Southern Maryland Sierra Club shared a great reason for voting–engagement from us can affect real change. Read more here: https://www.facebook.com/somdsierraclub/posts/866424048855364
