The status quo folks - you know, the good ole' boys - would like you to believe that reforming the Socorro Electric Coop is "unrealistic" or "unnecessary" or maybe even "unlawful". They're doing their best to muddy the waters, and make the issues seem complicated. They've even tried to make the ballot and voting process more tricky by introducing a bunch of competing resolutions so that the member resolutions will perhaps be lost in the mix, or the average SEC member might get overwhelmed by the choices. Trouble is, it's really not that complicated.

It's this simple:

1. Lower costs
2. Term limits
3. Equal representation
4. Five board members
5. Open meetings & open records

The current status quo is that we've got too many board members (11), each of whom costs the coop upwards of $30,000 per year. Most coops around the country do not spend that much on their board members, nor do they have so many board members. We've got folks in there that seem to think that the job is akin to the US Supreme Court - with jobs "for life". Term limits may help. Then maybe we'll get citizens in there - for a brief stint - working for the good of the coop, then rotating out. The districts are skewed such that some districts have less representation than others. That should be simple to fix; simply redistrict to normalize by population.

Most importantly, the SEC status quo supporters want the SEC members to pass a resolution that says (paraphrasing) "we won't adhere to open meetings or open records, but we strongly support openness." Huh? How can you suggest a resolution stating that you won't follow open meetings rules or open records rules, then have the audacity in the same breath to make a "commitment" to openness?! Sounds like some sort of doublespeak from 1984, if you ask me.

Let's vote this reform through, so we can move on to bigger and better things in our town. Save our coop some dough. Maybe lower our rates a bit, or maybe be able to afford some additional equipment for the coop, or maybe have an extra "real" employee (you know, the kind who fix the lines when there's a storm, that kind of thing - as opposed to the kind who sit around and go to meetings and junkets).

Let's show up to the SEC meeting - Saturday, April 17th, at Finley Gym. Registration is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. with voting to start at 7 p.m. I suggest you show up no later than 6:30 p.m. in case there are lines to register. Really, one evening of your time is worth getting this stuff fixed!

Disagree? Sound off - comments are free.