GEORGE
CARTER
One of the seven cooperative principles is democratic member control. This principle is on display every year at the cooperative’s annual meeting.
On March 18, the cooperative celebrated its 80th annual meeting. This meeting saw two long-time board members leave and one stay, which means we will have two new board members serving the cooperative membership.
Last year, members voted on a variety of changes to the Code of Regulations. The Code of Regulations are the governing rules under which the cooperative operates. A major change the members approved was the elimination of term limits for board members. This change allowed Dr. John Saxton to be retained in District 6, as he was unopposed for re-election.
Gerald Sorg, board member from District 1 in Indiana, decided to retire from the board. The members of that district selected Joseph Kohnen of Monroeville, Indiana, to succeed Sorg. In District 9, incumbent trustee Gary Hayden was defeated by Dr. Ronald Black of Ottawa, Ohio. All of us want to welcome Kohnen and Black to the board.
It is always sad to see long-time board members leave. This is the case with Sorg and Hayden, both of whom served 15 years. Sorg was recently featured in this magazine, and I want to wish him and his wife, Barbara, well.
Hayden leaves the board after serving many years as secretary and treasurer. Hayden brought a down-home spirit and deep concern for the membership to the boardroom, where his insights will be missed. I will personally miss his passion for PPEC and his friendship. I give my best wishes to him and his wife, Hazel.
With change comes opportunity and this is displayed through democratic member control. In the past four years, since 2013, six new members have joined the board of trustees. Although we are sorry to see trustees leave the board, we welcome new ideas and perspectives from our new trustees. We look forward to our new board members adding their unique insights and thoughts to our discussions.
GEORGE CARTER is CEO/general manager of Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative.
2017 PPEC board officers
Dr. John Saxton, chairman
Steven McMichael, vice chairman
Jay Dangler, secretary and treasurer
