• More to say on the KIUC ballot and election More to say on the KIUC ballot and election Nowhere on KIUC ballot are members given the option to vote to add the bylaw to cast votes “by appropriate electronic
• More to say on the KIUC ballot and election
More to say on the KIUC ballot and election
Nowhere on KIUC ballot are members given the option to vote to add the bylaw to cast votes “by appropriate electronic means approved by the Board of Directors”. Yet these words have been added by board authority, not member authority. Members have a right to vote on each bylaw change, deletion or addition, but they were not given the right on the current KIUC ballot to add those words.
The by-laws of any organization set the rules and procedures for governing. In the case of the Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative, the members as a whole empower the elected board to make decisions, based upon the guidelines defined in the by-laws.
It is important KIUC members read the exact text of Article II Meetings of Members Section 4 — Voting.
“Each member shall be entitled to one vote upon each matter submitted to a vote at a meeting of the members. Voting by proxy and cumulative voting shall not be permitted. A member absent from any meeting may submit a signed vote on any motion, resolution or amendment to be acted upon at such meeting, provide that such a signed vote has been specifically authorized by the Board of Directors for that motion, resolution or amendment. Such signed vote must be cast on a ballot prepared for that purpose by the Board of Directors, and containing the exact text of the proposed motion, resolution or amendment.
It shall be cast by delivery of such ballot to the Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, by the day of the meeting at which the vote is to be taken, or deposited in a ballot box at that meeting. Ballots shall be counted by an independent third party selected by the Board of Directors for that purpose, which third party shall certify the results to the board.”
Basically, all this amendment does is define member voting rights and how a vote should be cast on a ballot. KIUC is attempting to put a red herring into this issue by claiming that a “signed vote” is somehow an electronic vote. There is no provision for an “electronic” signature. The fact the drafted amendment adds the words “or cast by appropriate electronic means approved by the Board of Directors” exemplifies the lack of definition currently in place. Again, nowhere on the ballot are voters informed of this addition.
KIUC wishes to enact this amendment before it has been passed. This is not “by-law”, and it is wrong. I did not make this by-law up. KIUC drafted the original by-laws, and Mr. Gardiner and his attorney oversaw this creation without the public’s ability to comment. The current bylaws, by his design, do not guarantee a secret ballot. That was their design, not mine.
If the KIUC board wishes to modify the manner in which members vote, the procedure to amend this bylaw is stated in Article II Sec.4, and no other place. Unfortunately, the current KIUC ballot does not include the exact text to change the very by-law that is causing the difficulty.
I spoke to KIUC staff about the difficulty of finding the exact text for each amendment. The article and section for each bylaw change were not printed on the ballot, and staff was not able to answer these questions. I then telephoned the KIUC attorney, as his phone records will show the week before the KIUC board meeting, but he did not return my call until Monday, September 22, the day before the board meeting. He refused to answer my specific questions about the ballot.
During the past few weeks, I spoke to members of the board about the problems with some of the by-laws and the importance of open governance. The League of Women Voters had published its July newsletter with the date posted on the website for KIUC board meetings for August, and encouraged members to attend.
That date posted on the KIUC URL had been incorrect, was not updated properly and causing me and others to miss that meeting. I did inform the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) about this, and the local representative told me to keep him informed of any bylaw infractions. I think it may be appropriate for the PUC to know when a newly formed utility is authorizing a ballot in accordance to its by-laws.
Within its first year of operation, the KIUC is now telling members that in order to comply with its by-laws, the membership should seek the courts for solution.
Saturday, September 27, 2003, marked the first election held by the first elected board of Kauai Island Utility Cooperative. An annual meeting and election should be a reminder of the power of the vote, and the importance of shared decision-making. Should KIUC count these flawed ballots and adopt these improperly drafted amendments, it will serve as an example of arrogant use of power. In other words, the KIUC board must follow the by-laws in order to serve the members that have granted them authority. If the board accepts the vote count on the flawed ballots, it will not be acting according to the Third Revised and Restated Bylaws in place on that date.
I asked that specific question, “Will the independent third party certify the count according to the current KIUC Third Revised and Restated By-laws?” at the election and was told “yes” by Chairman of the KIUC board, Gregg Gardiner. His statement proved to be not truthful.
Kaua`i has a runaway KIUC board that has taken the authority away from its 20,000+ ratepayers and potential members. It is not surprising that only one third of those potential members (7,595) voted in the initial election, and less than half of that voted again. It won’t be long until only KIUC board and staff will be the ones voting.
Perhaps that’s what was intended all along.
Carol Bain is a Lihu‘e resident.
