Members of Central Texas Electric Co-op in Board District 4 (Llano County) met to choose their candidate for a seat on the Board of Directors, Tuesday night, June 10, in the Kingsland Community Center.

A record-number of members were welcomed by the co-op’s Chief Executive Officer, Robert A. Loth, III. Mr. Loth opened the meeting with the introduction of members of the co-op’s Board of Directors present. They were: David D. Smith, Board President from Gillespie County; Michael Randolph, Board Vice-President from San Saba County; Gerald Kaspar, Board Secretary-Treasurer, Stanley Keese and Sy Schiffman from Llano County; and Roger Jordan and Jack Asbill from Mason County.

Loth then turned the meeting over to chairman of Llano County nominating committee, Wallace Klussmann. Mr. Klussmann introduced his fellow nominating committee members: Tommy Duncan, Charles Holt, Leonard B. Morgan, Kimberly Schneider, and Frank Serpas Jr.

Klussmann then reported that the committee had been contacted by several individuals expressing an interest in running for the Board, and that they were nominating five. Mr. Klussmann then called for nominations from the floor, and one was received. Each candidate was given time to address the members prior to the election.

In a vote won on two ballots, W.C. Stewart, of Sunrise Beach, was selected by members present. He will be the district’s nominee at the co-op’s Annual Meeting in August, for the Board seat being vacated by Sunrise Beach resident Sy Schiffman.

Mr. Schiffman has served his limit of four three-year terms and according to the bylaws of the cooperative, could not run again this year.

Mr. Loth then gave the members a reports on how rapidly increasing costs will also affect CTEC. He showed slides indicating 56.6 percent or every dollar collected by CTEC is passed directly through to pay for purchased power from wholesale suppliers.

Loth said that even though electric rates have increased in the past years, the amount retained by the co-op for operations and maintenance has remained unchanged, and no plans are being made to change that in the near future.

The increases seen by co-op members are directly tied to the cost of purchased power. Loth said there are solutions but not easy ones – such as efficiency and conservation, limited reliance on natural gas as a generation source, increasing generation from renewable resources, and increasing efficiency of coal generation and developing nuclear power plants.

He said what CTEC members can do to help themselves control their electric bills is to buy more efficient products and to practice conservation in their usage. The rest will have to be addressed in the legislature in the near future.

Board President David D. Smith introduced a short video that presented an overview of proposed changes to bylaws that the Board of Directors is considering.

Smith said that as CTEC staff and board members prepare for district meetings each year, they look for ways to make the meetings better for our members. The video consisted of messages from several board members indicating that they had looked back at past meetings, observed what other co-ops were doing, and considered what would help the members make their most important decision –choosing a candidate for Director.

Considered in the proposals were: having the nomination and selection process open and available to all members; giving the members enough information prior to the meetings to be able to make informed decisions about candidates; providing pre-printed ballots; reducing confusion in the voting process for a spouse at the meeting (regarding single and joint memberships); and allowing a member committee to confirm the eligibility of candidates.

All of these proposed changes are being offered to improve the nominating process for Board elections, and to make the administration of elections more member-owner friendly.

Smith concluded by saying that the decision to implement these changes would be dependent on the input received from the members, so it was important for CTEC members to contact their local board members if they had questions.

He also stated that after reviewing the input, no changes or amendments to the bylaws would be instituted until later in the year.

The meeting closed with a question and answer session, and a drawing for door prizes. The co-op’s annual meeting this year is scheduled for Aug. 19, and will be held in Mason.