GVEA Board Election begins, only District 6 being contested.
Voting begins on May 13 for the seat representing District 6 on GVEA’s Board of Directors. Only owner-members who receive service in that district are eligible to vote. On-line voting opens May 13 and closes at 5 p.m on June 7. This is also the deadline by which paper ballots must be received; paper ballots are being mailed on May 13. The election for the board seat representing District 5, also scheduled for this year, was cancelled when one of the two candidates withdrew from the race. Incumbent Chris Bunch, the only remaining candidate, was reappointed by the Board at its regular April meeting. The GVEA election page, which includes candidate biographies, information on voting, and links to maps of GVEA’s seven districts, can be found here: https://gvea.com/elections/
AETP is sending candidates a questionnaire asking them about their positions on some key issues facing GVEA, and will publish their answers as they are received.
In District 6, which encompasses the area south of the Salcha River, including Delta Junction and Fort Greeley, three candidates are running to replace outgoing Board Member John Sloan. Peter Hallgren is a retired city administrator who has held a number of posts in local government, including serving as Mayor of Delta Junction. Fred Sheen is a retired lineman and supervisor at GVEA, and a volunteer with the Rural Deltana Fire Department. Eileen WIlliams is a project manager and owner of a local contracting firm, and serves as President of the Delta Greeley School Board.
The decision to cancel the election in District 5 was made after one of the two candidates put forward by the Nomination Committee, Russell Grieve, withdrew from the race on April 12. There were no candidates nominated by petition this year in District 5. According to GVEA Board policy, in cases where there is only one qualified candidate in an election, the Board has the option of cancelling the election and using the powers granted it by GVEA’s Bylaws to appoint that candidate to the seat. The stated purpose of this policy is to protect members’ financial interests by sparing them the cost of an unnecessary election (GVEA still mails all eligible voters paper ballots). At a Special Meeting on April 19, the Board voted to cancel this year’s election in District 5. At its April 26 meeting, the Board voted unanimously to appoint Bunch, who has been a member of the GVEA Board since 2013, to the District 5 seat. His new term will start in June.
