Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative members reelected three directors to serve on the board to highlight the organization’s 86th annual membership meeting on Thursday, Aug. 11.
More than 160 members registered to receive a call to participate in the telephone town hall-style event. The cooperative met its quorum requirements for the business meeting through members who returned proxy cards or voted online in the director election.
Corporate attorney Hannah Hutman announced members elected Brent Arbogast to serve as a Southern Region director on the board for the next four years. Of the valid votes cast, Arbogast received 57.2% of the tally while candidate Eric Beck received 23.7% and Charlie King received 19.1%.
Also reelected to the board were Brian K. Plum, of Page County, and Todd Van Horn, of Frederick County. They ran unopposed for three-year terms.
Members voted online and by mail for several weeks leading up to the meeting. SVEC’s board does not vote proxies in relation to the election of its directors. The election results are tallied from individual member selections of a given candidate.
Before the results were announced at the meeting, members ratified the cooperative’s bylaws to account for a new board structure, which includes regional seats (northern, central and southern). Starting with the 2022 election, the board will enter a transition period with the goal of having a nine-member panel, instead of 10.
Each board seat will run three years and three offices will be up for election each year, once the transition period is over. In the interim, that’s why some directors will serve four years instead of three.
The rest of the annual meeting provided members with customary business updates including reports from Board Chair Dr. Conrad Helsley and President and CEO Greg Rogers, a question-and-answer session, and the announcement of winners of a $250 bill credit. In his remarks, Rogers highlighted SVEC’s newly adopted strategic initiatives.
—Report by Preston Knight, Event and Communication Manager, Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative