WHY YOUR PARTICIPATION POWERS OUR ANNUAL MEETING IN APRIL

On behalf of Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc. (WEC) I’d like to personally invite you to join us on April?27, 2022, for our?74th Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc.?Annual Meeting.

This year’s annual meeting will be held at the Scott Community Building, 600 Fairground Road in Scott City, Kansas, and seven other remote locations near you: Leoti, Tribune, Syracuse, Garden City, Great Bend, Harper and Caldwell.

We look forward to gathering with you — the members of WEC — at each of these locations to listen, learn and enjoy good food and fellowship. We will have great door prizes to give away, and we’ll be announcing the winners of the 2022 high school senior and junior scholarships.

This event is not only a chance to visit with other members of the cooperative, but also a great opportunity to learn about what we’ve accomplished in the previous year, and what we are planning in the upcoming year and beyond. It’s also an opportunity for you to exercise one of the greatest benefits of being a member of WEC, by voting for the UPCOMING BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

WEC is not owned by far away investors. We’re run by a democratically ELECTED BOARD OF TRUSTEES, which is given the privilege to serve because of your vote. Our trustees are members of your community, and they are concerned with the issues you face every day because they face them, too.

You may be thinking, “what’s in it for me?” As a member of WEC, you have a valuable perspective — and we invite you to share it with us at this year’s annual meeting.

Maybe you feel that you have nothing to add to the discussion, so there is no need to attend the annual meeting.

However, every energy bill you pay to WEC helps ensure better service and reliability for the whole community. Your dollars are reinvested locally into improvements that impact the reliability and affordability of your energy, and so we’re always ready to hear from you, as it enables us to make better decisions as we plan for the future.

• IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN RUNNING FOR ONE OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES SEATS up for election, the process is outlined below. Please contact Jim McVay, WEC’s general counsel/assistant general manager, at 620-786-6017 if you have any questions.
• NOMINATION BY THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE. Every year, the board of trustees appoints a nomination committee. The committee is made up of one member from each of our seven districts. You are welcome to contact WEC to get the contact information for your fellow member who represents your district on the nomination committee.
• NOMINATION BY A PETITION OF MEMBERS. Fifteen members, or more, of WEC can nominate any member as a candidate for trustee. These nominations by petition must be sent to WEC at least 40 days before the annual meet-ing. However, if your petition doesn’t make it in time, that petitioned nominee will be presented as a candidate at the annual meeting and considered a nomination from the floor. That candidate would then be a “write-in candidate” at the meeting.
• NOMINATION FROM THE FLOOR. Any member can make a nomination from the floor at the annual meeting to present a member as a trustee candidate. For the fourth consecutive year, we’ll be hosting CONCURRENT ANNUAL MEETINGS in: Leoti, Tribune, Syracuse, Garden City, Great Bend, Harper and Caldwell. (See a full list of meeting address locations on 12G).

Members in attendance at ANY LOCATION will be able to:

• ATTEND
• NOMINATE
• VOTE
• WIN A DOOR PRIZE (IF SELECTED)

Lunch will be provided at every location. Mark your calendar for our 74TH WHEATLAND ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. ANNUAL MEETING on April 27, 2022, and exercise your rights as a member. Because when members of our community come together for a common purpose, we improve the quality of life for all in our corner of the world.

UNTIL NEXT TIME, TAKE CARE

Bruce W. Mueller, CEO/General Manager

(Editor's Note: This column was first published in the March 2022 edition of Kansas Country Living.)