A follow-up from my Feb 2012 blog on transparency.  I was waiting for the minutes to become available from the May 21, 2012 meeting.

The GVEA board voted at that meeting to endorse roughly half of my proposals:
1. Post complete meeting packet and maintain historically (they agreed for 3 years)
2. Post a list of GVEA committees and membership
3. Post a list of external committee members (of board and CEO, my intent)
4. Post meeting agendas and minutes of subsidiaries (and Good Cents, the board's idea)
5. Post historical minutes of Membership Advisory Committee (MAC)  (instead of just the last meeting)
6. Post Form 7 (GVEA's financial statement to the Rural Utilities System)  - the board also will post the IRS Form 990 on their website.

And finally, CEO Newton agreed to find a way to set up a notification system for when GVEA is heading into expensive peak power and see if we can get members to reduce and thus save us all high cost energy.

With Newton's departure, I hope the implementation of these items won't be delayed as more than competent staff remain to carry forth the board's request.

It took me a nearly 5 year effort to get the board to agree to post the meeting agendas and minutes.  I'd been working on these other items for several years as well, but consolidating them into a single readable document for the board seemed to resonate.   One of the interesting side facts is that I caught some flack for handing out the very same issues on transparency to the MAC board in May.  I think they have worked that out, but most amazing to me that it was an issue at all.

Finally, I welcome my new District 4 board member Frank Eagle to the GVEA board and thank outgoing District 4 board member Ward Merdes for his efforts on the board the last 3years.   Ward's main issue when running was 'Susitna Now'.  I opined to him that he would soon be inundated with an incredible amount of work on the GVEA board.  He now agrees, but was still surprised how much.   And Susitna-Watana  remains a long ways off.