Now that the special election on meter fees is concluded, I want to thank the 43 percent of our members who took the time to learn about the issue and to vote. We’re especially grateful to the 74 percent who
Now that the special election on meter fees is concluded, I want to thank the 43 percent of our members who took the time to learn about the issue and to vote. We’re especially grateful to the 74 percent who voted “yes” and supported the decision of their elected board.
I want to make some observations about our member-owned cooperative, about our obligations as directors and about the realities of running a public utility.
As an elected director, I have the fiduciary duty to represent the interests of all members of KIUC. This includes our industrial and commercial members who represent 60 percent of our revenue as well as our 25,000 residential customers. As a life-long resident of Kauai, I take my responsibilities seriously, especially when considering how the actions I take today will affect future generations.
Over the course of this election, I’ve heard some people talk about “making the cooperative act like a cooperative.” The way they would accomplish this is to increase the influence of a tiny minority of the members and put operational decisions of the utility up for a popular vote.
Cooperative and democratic principles are not based on the tyranny of the minority, but rather on representing the views of the majority. As for running the utility, I’m confident that the great majority would prefer to leave that to the professional staff and elected board.
As chairman of KIUC’s board, I only am one vote of nine. Every action we take must receive the support of a majority of the directors. This is how a cooperative works. This is how democracy works. We must be able to compromise, we must accept that we do not always get our way and, win or lose, we must move on to address the next issue.
Once the board makes a decision, we have the fiduciary duty to advocate for that decision and explain to members why they should support it. Yet this is seen by some as violating the principles of the cooperative. To me, it would not only break our commitments as directors but would go against common sense to remain silent on a challenge to one of our decisions.
In the event of future petitions, we will continue to educate our members on why the decision was made and what’s at stake for the cooperative. We will ask for their vote to support the elected directors’ decisions.
I am increasingly concerned by the process that allows 250 people to sign a petition — less than 1 percent of our membership — to challenge actions taken by the board. Particularly when a repeat petition challenger told The Garden Island that he “was more excited about the high voter turnout than disappointed about the results … that’s good for democracy … I’m glad that we had the conversation.”
It was not a conversation, it was a confrontation, one that cost the membership well over $100,000 in direct expenses and staff time.
While the petitioners may look upon this as some sort of academic exercise, a challenge to a board action is a very serious matter. We do not take it lightly. And now, for the second time in three years, nearly three-quarters of the members who voted in a petition election defeated a challenge of a board action.
While the petitioner believes the high turnout was “good for democracy,” he shouldn’t try to spin the outcome as a win. I took it as a sign that many of our members are fed up.
This was a direct rebuke from the vast majority of members who are tired of seeing their cooperative’s time and resources diverted from the No. 1 goal in our strategic plan: cutting their electric bill.
Now we have another vote coming up. The ballots will be arriving soon for the 2014 board of directors election. I hope our members will remain engaged and will vote after studying the backgrounds and positions of the 11 candidates.
As directors, our job is to make choices. Some choices are more popular than others. But we make these choices in a thoughtful, responsible manner and in the best interests of our members and Kauai.
• Allan A. Smith is chairman of the board of directors of Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.
