By Hillary Knox
La Plata Electric Association
La Plata Electric Association’s (LPEA) independent Election Supervisory Committee has qualified candidates for the cooperative’s 2021 director elections.
LPEA has four director districts, established geographically. LPEA directors serve rotating three-year terms, which are staggered so the term of one director from each district expires each year.
Qualified candidates for the 2021 director elections are as follows:
District 1, Archuleta County: Incumbent Kirsten Skeehan is being challenged by new candidate Veronica Medina.
District 2, south and west La Plata County: Incumbent Kohler McInnis is being challenged by new candidate Mark Walser.
District 3, city of Durango: Two new candidates, Ted Compton and Bill Waters, are vying to fill the seat to be vacated by retiring director Britt Bassett.
District 4, north and east La Plata County: Incumbent Tim Wheeler is being challenged by new candidate John Purser.
In addition to the director elections, LPEA’s Board of Directors has proposed, and recommends adoption of, two amendments to LPEA’s bylaws by vote of the membership in 2021. Both amendments were proposed amidst COVID-19 and aim to modernize LPEA’s bylaws to conform with current Colorado law on virtual meetings as may be necessary to conduct the business of the cooperative.
Ballots will be mailed to LPEA members in mid-May. To be counted, ballots must be received no later than 4 p.m. on June 16. Ballots may be mailed using the provided envelope or via drop box. Detailed submission instructions will be included in the ballots.
Given COVID-19 concerns, election results will be confirmed at a partial, virtual annual meeting on June 17 at 6 p.m.
Participants must preregister for this meeting at: https://lpea.coop/annual-meeting. Given this, there will not be an option to submit ballots the day of the LPEA annual meeting, as is done when the meeting is held live.
The 2021 LPEA annual meeting will be scheduled at a later date when, and if, it is safe to do so.
