On Sept. 28, Kankakee Valley REMC’s largest event — the Member Appreciation Day and annual business meeting — will take place. We look forward to seeing you there for some family fun, good food and a chance to win some great prizes.
We are excited to bring back a few favorites this year. Birky’s Catering will be serving up pork chop dinners to attendees, and if you attended a few years ago, you may remember Granpa Cratchet. He is coming back this year to entertain the kids (and adults) with a great puppet show. A change this year will be the location of the event. We will still be hosting it at the Porter County Fairgrounds but we’ll be using the open-air buildings on the grounds. There will be plenty of seating and easy accessibility. You can check out the schedule of events here.
In addition to the lively affair that we have planned, there will also be a brief business meeting. It is during this time that your co-op leaders will discuss priorities, challenges and the financial health of the cooperative. Typically we would announce the election results for the board members that represent YOU, but this year will be a little different.
The director election process is done by petition. Member-consumers who wish to run for a director seat must obtain the signatures of 15 members from their district and attend a mandatory informational meeting. Only members from districts up for election can run for the board position. This year, Russell Guse and Mike Yankauskas, who currently serve as district directors, were the only members to petition for election to the board.
As stated in the cooperative bylaws, Article IV, Section 4, “At the Annual Meeting, each nominated director candidate who is running for election unopposed may be elected upon an approved motion of the membership and shall then be considered elected to the seat for which he/she has been nominated.” Therefore, there will not be a director election during the business meeting. Instead, we will ask for a motion to reelect Russell Guse and Mike Yankauskas to the board for three-year terms. Event information and your registration card, generally in the voting packet, will be on the back cover of next month’s Indiana Connection magazine.
I encourage you to get to know Russell and Mike. Their biographies are on page 7. Serving on the board of your electric provider is a unique opportunity and a privilege open to all member-consumers. Next year, we will be electing a representative from District 3, District 5 and one at-large director. Watch for more information about the 2024 election in early January.
I look forward to seeing you on Sept. 28.
