Business Community

Ballots in PenLight election due Monday, April 27

Rate-paying members of the Peninsula Light Co. have until the close of business on Monday, April 27, to vote for three members of the cooperative’s board of directors.

The electric utility needs at least 10% of ballots returned for the election to be valid. If it misses that benchmark, the election will be delayed to provide additional time to gather ballots, according to the utility.

Rate-paying members will elect three board members from a pool of three incumbents and three challengers. Find more information on the election here.

Candidates include incumbents Marc Jorgenson, Roger Spadoni and Scott Junge; and newcomers Keith Black, Joe Tellez and Debbie Wittmers.

PenLight will announce the winners of the election during its online annual meeting, which starts at 5:30 p.m. May 4. Members can listen in to the annual meeting and election results online. Here’s a link to the announcement for the annual meeting.

PenLight CEO Jafar Taghavi will discuss the state of the utility during the annual meeting. The agenda also includes the election results, a treasurer’s report for the previous year, and new and unfinished business.

Members may submit questions for review and response before the annual meeting.

“This structure ensures that members retain democratic control through the election of directors and participation in the annual meeting, while allowing the board to effectively carry out its governance responsibilities on behalf of the cooperative,” according to the annual meeting announcement.

This year’s election has drawn increased attention after board members ousted Paul Alvestad, a 26-year veteran of the board, for revealing confidential information. Alvestad has criticized PenLight in lawsuits, on social media and in comments to reporters during the past year.