Somerset —
Candidates have descended on South Kentucky RECC in hopes of filling four lucrative board seats after half the board resigned last September.
For the District 1 position which encompasses Pulaski County, 16 applicants have filed for the seat vacated when Somerset attorney John Pruitt, Jr., resigned, Pruitt joined Board Chairman, Richard G. “Rick” Stephens, of McCreary County; and Board Members William Shearer, of Clinton County, and Charles Gore, of Russell County, along with Board Attorney Darrell Saunders of Corbin, in submitting surprise letters of retirement.
In the aftermath of the resignations, Rick Halloran, District 3 director, was named Chairman of the Board, while District 4 director Billy Gene Hurd, has been serving as Vice-Chairman, and Lee Coffee, District 7 director, has been serving as Secretary/Treasurer
Chairman Stephens, who had been on the RECC board 36 years and who chaired it for the last 12, had been the target of a campaign to remove him from the board. spearheaded by a group of Somerset and McCreary County businessmen.
In all, 35 candidates are seeking the four vacant board seats in Districts 1, 2, 5, and 6. All of the candidates have met the co-op’s Bylaw director qualifications, turned in signatures of at least 75 SKRECC members, and passed an extensive background check.
“Our membership should be pleased with all the work and effort that has gone into enhancing the cooperatives democratic process,” said Allen Anderson, CEO SKRECC. “Members can make their voices heard by exercising their right and privilege as a member-owner of South Kentucky RECC by casting their vote for the candidates they feel will best serve them on the cooperative’s board.
“SKRECC members will be able to vote by mail for one candidate in each district where there is a vacant director seat. Election ballots will be mailed to members April 1 and must be returned by April 24 to be counted. Look for additional information on the candidates, ballots and deadlines in the April Issue of Kentucky Living Magazine’s South Kentucky insert.”
Compensation for board members varies—when Stephens resigned he was receiving $29,177 annually according to Public Service Commission records—and they also receive a generous benefits package.
SKRECC is one of 19 co-ops regulated by Kentucky’s PSC, 16 of which distribute power generated by Winchester-based East Kentucky Power Cooperative. PSC records indicated that board members for four of those utilities are not compensated.
SKRECC serves some 50,000 member/owners (more than 66,000 meters) in the Kentucky counties of Pulaski, Russell, Wayne, Clinton, McCreary, Casey, Lincoln, Adair, Rockcastle, Cumberland and Laurel as well as Pickett and Scott counties in Tennessee.
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