opinion
august28
2012
3
An Opinion:
A funny thing happened on the way to the BBQ
By Scott Laird
I recently attended the 2012
Annual Meeting for the West Oregon
Electric Cooperative. The last few years
that I have attended this event the meet-
ing has been rather ordinary. Staff from
the Coop give reports from the past year
and Board members are elected, many
of them often running unopposed. The
meeting generally seems to move along
quite quickly, there are some really nice
door prizes and then everyone enjoys a
nice lunch together
Mostly the meeting is interest-
ing and informative because as a mem-
ber I am concerned about how things
are operating at the Coop. The last few
years we have heard about how we
dealt with and survived the past winter
and the weather related events that have
occurred—because these days it seems
like we have one every year.
This year the Annual Meeting
was a little different. During new busi-
ness a member, Jack Phillips spoke from
the floor and raised some issues. Appar-
ently he and a group of members had
recently met and discussed the opera-
tions of WOEC, the rising cost of power,
(in case you haven’t heard the Board of
Directors is currently considering a 4%
rate increase) and some possible solu-
tions the group would like considered.
Phillips read a prepared statement on be-
half of this group which is calling them-
selves “The Power of One,” to represent
that each of us can make a difference.
Phillips and his group of members asked
the Board of Directors to consider sev-
eral ideas, including self-generation of
alternative power, taking a hard look at
operations and the restructuring of the
Coop. I’m not going to go into all the
details here, you can read about them in
my report from the meeting in this issue.
Some of Jack’s comments could
be considered criticism, but for the most
part they were politely presented and
well organized. Jack made a point of
stating that he was directing his ques-
tions and thoughts to the Board of Direc-
tors and asking for their consideration of
the issues he was raising.
Suffice to say that I believe Jack
and his group raised some very valid
points. Maybe all their ideas are not vi-
able. Maybe the WOEC staff and Board
have already looked at or are doing some
of the things this group proposed.
But at least this group of mem-
bers are concerned enough to meet to-
gether, discuss their concerns and bring
forward their ideas for possible solu-
tions to the membership and the Board
at the Annual Meeting. I applaud them
for this.
But that is not enough. I con-
tinually hear complaints from residents
in our community about our high utility
rates. Electric rates are too high! So are
our water and sewer rates!
And yet, how many of us have
ever attended meetings of the citizen
Boards and Committees that help gov-
ern these organizations? How many of
us read the correspondence that is sent to
us by the City or WOEC and the articles
that are printed in the Ruralite maga-
zine or local publications. WOEC is a
member organization. As members we
do have some say in how the organiza-
tion is run. Think your water and sewer
rates are too high? Have you ever at-
tended a meeting of the Vernonia Public
Works Committee? If we are going to
complain about our rates then we have
a responsibility to do so in a manner that
is informed.
What is needed is regular citi-
zen and member presence at board
and committee meetings.
In fact, right now there are sev-
eral openings on numerous City Com-
mittees. You could have direct impact
on helping create policy for the City of
Vernonia by joining and serving on a
city committee.
I know people are busy. I know
it’s difficult to drag ourselves out to a
meeting in the evening after a long day
at work. I know people have family and
social obligations or opportunities that
are probably more enjoyable than sitting
in a meeting.
But remember, the people sit-
ting on those boards, who represent the
citizenry, also have lives, families, jobs
and other commitments. Yet they make
the time to be there each month, spend-
ing time to read materials and do re-
search and serve their community, work-
ing for the good of us all. Shouldn’t we
be willing to show up once in a while to
check-in and see what they are doing on
our behalf?
I attended my first WOEC
Board meeting on the Tuesday follow-
ing the Annual Meeting. I went because
there was a planned discussion about the
proposed rate hike. I also went because
I was interested in seeing how the Board
operates. It was an eye opener. Mem-
bers of the WOEC Board of Directors
and the WOEC staff are extremely well
informed, are actively looking for alter-
native solutions, and seemed to know
their business pretty well. No, I didn’t
agree with all their positions. Yes, I
think they should be trying some differ-
ent things. And no, I am not very well
informed about the inside operations at
WOEC.
But I did have an opportuni-
ty to ask questions, raise concerns and
be heard by the people that create and
enact policy. No, I didn’t stay for the
entire meeting, but I left knowing I was
now better informed and that the opera-
tions of WOEC is in pretty good hands.
Asking the Board and staff of
either WOEC or the City of Vernonia to
think outside the box for solutions that
would benefit the community is not out
of line. They know they don’t have all
the answers. Technology is changing
quickly and is becoming more readily
accessible. So is access to information.
We all have ideas, some of them might
be useful.
Having an engaged and con-
cerned membership who are interested
in seeking solutions to the issues this
community faces is a positive thing.
Bringing forward alternative ideas—
whether feasible or not-- should be en-
couraged, not discouraged. Open dialog
between citizens and their representa-
tives can only help create more trust and
a better informed citizenry. The citizens
just need to do their part.
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
Mark Brown
Chip Bubl
Mackenzie Carr
Sonia Spackman
Photography
Scott Laird
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