LIHU‘E — Voter turnout for Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative’s 2011 board of directors election was lower this year than last year despite its continued efforts to expand the methods in which voters could cast a ballot. This year’s election offered
LIHU‘E — Voter turnout for Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative’s 2011 board of directors election was lower this year than last year despite its continued efforts to expand the methods in which voters could cast a ballot.
This year’s election offered ratepayers the option of voting by telephone and Internet as well as by paper ballot, yet participation levels fell from 28 percent in 2010 to 25 percent.
“It’s not enough for us,” KIUC spokeswoman Anne Barnes said. “We would like 100 percent, but it’s high (turnout) for a cooperative, it’s very high. We will try to do more next year. Maybe we need to hit it a little harder.”
KIUC received 6,193 cast ballots this election. Although voters were asked to choose three of the seven board member candidates, there were 1,761 undervotes, meaning more than 25 percent of voters chose fewer than three board members.
Newly elected board members — David Iha, Peter Yukimura and Teofilo “Phil” Tacbian — are all incumbents, indicating voters wish to stay the utility’s current course.
Barnes said she did not wish to speculate on whether the election results indicate KIUC is heading in the right direction or that members are satisfied with the utility’s performance.
KIUC mailed 24,727 ballots, although reports on its website says it “currently serves nearly 36,000 customers.”
The discrepancy, Barnes said, stems from patronage capital accounts. Even if someone is no longer a ratepaying member of the co-op, their patronage capital account remains open. So potentially, even deceased former members may be listed as current customers on KIUC reports.
Former ratepayers are not allowed a vote, however, said Shelley Paik, a KIUC communications representative who handles the elections.
Only current, ratepaying members are allowed to vote and each member is allowed one vote despite the number of utility bills they may pay, she said.
“Because cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by members, all members have equal voting rights, which means one member, one vote,” Paik said.
KIUC does not have term limits for board members, and each term is three years in length.
Each of the seven candidates took a moment Tuesday and Wednesday to comment about the election:
PAT GEGEN – 2,074 votes
Gegen said he is “a little bummed, of course” to have lost his second run for KIUC’s board of directors.
By rounds of applause, Gegen appeared to receive the most support at the KIUC Candidate Forum event hosted by Kaua‘i Community College. But Gegen said not many people watch the forum.
He said incumbents had a big block that voted for them though they only received 50 percent of the vote.
“It tells me there’s some concern out there about where we’re headed,” Gegen said. “I would have been happy if either me or Ken Stokes had been elected, because it would have meant real change. (The incumbents) have been at KIUC for the last six years and rates just keep going up. I see no real change happening here.”
Gegen said he plans to stay active on KIUC issues and there is a chance he will run again. He also plans to continue his efforts with Apollo Kaua‘i and Blue Planet.
“I haven’t given up yet,” he said. “We need to learn to embrace the idea that sometimes change is a good thing.”
The bottom line is if rates continue to climb, Gegen said, he will buy a few more solar panels and get completely off the grid. He already uses wind power to generate electricity at his home.
“My windmills are cranking today,” he said Tuesday.
JOANNE GEORGI – 1,582 votes
It was also Georgi’s second bid for a board seat.
She said she wishes there had been more debates. “I think it would have helped having one on the North Shore and Westside,” she explained.
She also expressed concern about the disparity between the number of customers KIUC claims to have versus the number of ballots mailed.
“If there are 36,000 customers, as their strategic plan states, then why didn’t they send 36,000 ballots out?” she queried. “A friend of mine didn’t even receive their ballot. He called KIUC and they said they would get back to him and never did. If there are people out there who didn’t get a ballot, they should invalidate the election.”
She also questioned why ratepayers who receive more than one bill are not allowed more than one vote. For each bill, you should get a ballot, she said.
During the KIUC forum, Georgi said she supported exploring nuclear energy as an option for Kaua‘i. When asked if she still supports the nuclear option given the recent events in Japan, she said, “Nuclear is the greenest, least expensive way to go; however, at this point in time with what has happened in Japan, it needs to be to be put on back burner. Time needs to be taken to evaluate what’s happening there.”
DAVID IHA – 3,044 votes
Iha has sat on the board since 2007. This is the second consecutive election he has won. He said he is happy with the results of the election and humbled to serve the community.
“KIUC began the 2010 year with a new Strategic Plan developed collaboratively with the directors and key management staff,” Iha said. “In addition to providing electricity, our vision is to be an energy solutions leader. One of the most important goals in our Strategic Plan is to implement increased energy solutions, including diversification of our power supply and increase our sustainable power supply.”
KULEIALOHA SANTOS – 1,854 votes
“It was a radical experience and I’m very happy about the results,” Santos said. “A lot of people in the community supported me and voted for me.”
She said running for KIUC’s board was not her idea.
“I was approached by some community members who thought it would be a good idea to put myself out there, so I did,” she said. But, despite defeat, she learned a lot from running and is happy overall with the results.
“I didn’t expect to win,” she said. “I was hoping I would win, but there was some strong competition. There’s a lot of smart people on the board.”
She is uncertain as to whether she will ever run for election again.
KEN STOKES – 2,098 votes
Stokes, who ran against some of the same incumbents three years ago, said he was happy to provide a choice for voters; however, he was also dismayed that three out of four members did not vote.
“Is this the lowest participation has ever been?” he asked. “Who knows? Then again, even general election participation can be spotty.”
Stokes, who received the most votes among all of the challengers, said he does not plan to run again next year.
“But then I didn’t plan on running this year either,” he said.
TEOFILO “PHIL” TACBIAN – 2,908 votes
“Needless to say I was pleased with the results,” Tacbian said. “We are aggressively pursuing renewable energy projects and not losing sight of the needs of our members, today … We need to continue to look at government regulations as it affects our cost of doing business. We must also promote energy efficiency programs to help our members manage their energy use.”
This will be Tacbian’s third term on the board.
PETER YUKIMURA – 3,132 votes
Yukimura, who received the most votes among the incumbents, has sat on KIUC’s board since 2004. This will be his third term.
He said he was pleased with the election this year and with the results, but he thinks the board should do more to encourage members to vote.
“My campaign was strictly grassroots, explaining to friends and family what KIUC is trying to do to benefit our community,” Yukimura said. “My number one priority for the coming year is to closely follow the renewable project that we are working on now and to determine which ones will be best for our members.”
All candidates expressed appreciation for the community’s support.
• Vanessa Van Voorhis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or by emailing vvanvoorhis@ kauaipubco.com.
