Last updated on Monday February 27, 2017 11:46 AM

JANUARY - JUNE     2014 COMMENTARY  JULY - DECEMBER

August 1st - Following are 2 letters. The first is a reply by Mayor Bhasker to SEC board Chair Anne Dorough referencing: her letter to the editor in the Chieftain of July 17.
 072814-Ltr Bashker-Dorough   
July 17 -Anne Dorough letter to Chieftain: Co-op takeover costly, bad idea (Chieftain Letter)  

The second letter is to the Socorro residents from Mayor Bhasker. 073114-Bhasker to residents  

Also note in the left column contact email and regular mail addresses to express any concern or complaints about the SEC

July 31 -
The law firm of Smith & Christiansen was hired by the SEC to conduct an independent audit. See contract below.

Among Services to be performed are:

"1. Firm is to review Socorro's current written and unwritten policies, practices, and procedures, including those of Socorro's Board. This review will include but not be limited to issues surrounding Socorro's management practices, Board governance, Board compensation, reimbursement of Board Members' expenses, Board benefits, and such other issues as may be raised by the members, employees or Trustees during the investigatory phase of the audit."

"3. Firm will require a means by which its membership, Board members, and employees may communicate confidentially with Firm about any issues of concern. Socorro will provide a link on its website......for interested persons to communicate confidentially with Firm via e-mail."

This contract was approved by the Board of Trustees at the June 25, 2014 Board of Trustees meeting. The Firm link is still not up on the SEC website but we have given an alternate secure and direct email socorroreview@gmail.com. Use this address to let the Firm know of your opinions, complaints, treatment by the SEC, etc. All methods will be utilized to publicize this contact link so that a broad range of experience of members with the SEC can present a accurate picture of conditions throughout the SEC service area. Please find free to forward this information.
073114-law firm email address  
Smith/Christiansen agreement  

July 31 -
The articles (below) are from this morning’s Chieftain and all deal with the SEC coop. Trustees Wade and Cordova have voted to censure Trustee Wagner again. Read this article carefully as it says more about the Board of Trustee’s majority than about Trustee Wagner. Trustee Wagner was also the only trustee who voted against suing the members in 2010 among other acts that the Board considered “disloyal,” etc. Trustee Wagner’s letter to the editor refutes Trustee Dorough’s letter in the last two issues of the Chieftain and inserts in SEC’s billing and Greg Miller’s letter covers the positives in selling the whole coop.

July 31 - Chieftain articles:
- Trustee calls for recall of SEC chair Dorough  (Letter)
- Co-op board censures Wagner  
- Letter to editor from Greg Miller on Socorro buy-out  

July 25 - June 25 board meeting minutes    July 23 2014 - Meeting Minutes  

July 29, 2014 - comments on July 23 meeting videos

July 23, 2014 - Trustee Wagner censure letter   

July 24 - Mayor wants to see a co-op quorum (Chieftain)  

July 24 - Ruth White letter to the editor re: buy-out  

July 20 - Who knows what else will arise at the SEC Board of Trustee meeting on July 23, 2014, 2 P.M., 310 Abeyta but the Agenda is listing a couple of eyebrow raisers.

H. CONSULTANT ACCOUNTANT PRESENTATION. This presentation was requested by Trustee Wagner because of the extraordinary sums paid to this accountant in the past year although we have a full accounting staff at the SEC and an auditing firm. There has never been a clear answer from Manager Herrera as to the accountant’s duties but here is a clear add up of the amounts paid to Mr. Wilson.
June 2013 to December 2013 ------ $ 97,146.07
January 2014 to June 4, 2014 ------- 86,663.74

TOTAL - June 2013 to June 4, 2014 $ 183,809.81 total amount paid to Mr. Wilson for approximately 1 year’s work.

M. NEW BUSINESS: 2. CENSURE OF TRUSTEE. Trustees Dorough, Wade and Cordova voted last week to censure Trustee Wagner. They will vote on the censure this week. Actually a censure from these three can be considered a compliment.
June 14, 2014 Email from board chair Anne Dorough to the board on meeting with Socorro Mayor  

July 18, 2014 comments  
Related documents:
Link to video on Cordova PR firm
Cordova billing in 2013  
SEC billing insert
Socorro City resolution on SEC complaints  

August 2014 Comments

Herb Meyers comments on SEC Board
Trustee Wagner on Censurship  
August 27, 2014 board meeting agenda
August 27, 2014 foundation committee agenda  

August 25 - Don't forget, Wed 27th is the board meeting and it is important to attend as a presentation by Aaron Christensen who is doing the "audit", and by Kathy Buhl of the CFC Integrity Fund. Here is the agenda

August 17 2014 Meeting Minutes  

Note in the agenda:
"G. PRESENTATION BY AARON CHRISTENSEN" This is the attorney hired to look into the activities of the SEC who has been receiving complaints, etc. from the members.

This morning, Tuesday 26th, he is meeting with the trustees on an individual basis. Tomorrow morning (Wednesday) he will meet with Mayor Bhasker. This afternoon presentation should be really something.

" H. PRESENTATION/KATHY BUHL--CFC INTEGRITY FUND" This is the Fund that the SEC is hoping to get money from to fight any take over of the SEC by the City of Socorro.

Members should attend this meeting if at all possible as the future of their electric power is at stake. If you like what is going on, attend and say so. If you dislike the actions of management, legal advisors, and the board majority, attend and say so.

  082714-Meeting Comments  

Flyer with Christensen law firm contact information

SEPTEMBER - 2014

Below is a letter to the editor (not posted on “Chieftain” website).
SEC should reschedule meeting  

This letter addresses the “plan to kill quorum” selection of date and location for the District 2 meeting. District 2 trustee Charlie Wagner’s selection of date and location was ignored and the majority (Wade, Cordova & Dorough) selected and voted in a date that they knew would cause attendance problems. This decision would have been pre-planned before the board meeting. Hey, they did the same thing in 2013!  Remember the Alamo election!

Sept 17 - Socorro Mayor Ravi Bhasker said during the Monday city council meeting the city is looking at what it would cost to acquire the Socorro Electric Cooperative within the municipal limits. More here  

Sept 7 - This coming Saturday, September 13, 2014, is the date of the Pietown Festival   which is always a lot of fun. This year the SEC Reform Group will have a table set up to provide information on the activities of the SEC including the proposed takeover by the City of Socorro, the ongoing recall petition for the District 5 trustee with copies of the petition available for signing, contact information for the law firm that is conducting an investigation into all facets of the SEC – board, management, etc. Additional help to man the table is welcome.

Please stop by. As owner/members, you have rights and responsibilities to monitor the activities of your electricity provider. And the pie is wonderful!

The following is the link to the “Chieftain” article of Sept 3, 2014. Nice to see a thorough coverage of monthly SEC Board of Trustee meeting. Note that once again the trustees are setting the place and date for the District II Members Meeting ignoring the wishes of Trustee Wagner and District II members. Last year the board set the place for the meeting and election at the Alamo Reservation in an attempt to stop the re-election of Wagner. Alamo has the lowest member population in the district and is also the most remote from the larger population centers. People came out anyway and re-elected Wagner by 70%. This year the date set by the board is also that of Socorro Fest, Alamo Indian Days, Balloon Fest and October Fest. Gee, does the board majority think the members are stupid?

This Wednesday, September 24, 2014 is the date of the regular monthly meeting of the SEC Board of Trustees. Agenda below which will have a discussion on the proposed changes to Scholarships, which caused a bit of controversy at last month’s meeting. Draft policy below

September 24, 2014 Board Agenda   
September 24, 2014 Board Minutes  

 Draft Foundation Policy for board discussion

2015 Youth Tour Notice  

Sept 4 - Document sent from Socorro City to Christensen lawfirm on issues with the SEC  (658 pages)   (Large 58MB file) Data included 6 videos from this website.

OCTOBER - 2014

Letter published in the Oct 30, 2014 Cheiftain - SEC info may not be accurate  
The data table used

October 29 board Agenda      October 29th board minutes  

Download Nov 7, 2014 commentary on Oct 29th meeting  
Co-op president responds  
SEC members have right, duty

NOVEMBER - 2014

November 19th board meeting agenda  
November 19 - board minutes  

SEC comments n Dec. 2014 Enchantment  

Download Nov 7, 2014 commentary on Oct 29th meeting  

November 2014 enchantment rear page commenrs re: co-op mission  
Co-op president responds  Published in the Chieftain November 6, 2014
SEC members have right, duty Published in the Chieftain November 6, 2014

Nov. 7th commentary -
The letter from James Cherry in last week's Chieftain (Letter published in the Oct 30, 2014 Cheiftan questions rates concerning the rating of SEC rates used this rate chart:
Data table used questioning the SEC information

November 6 -
City eyes co-op appraisal, upcoming meeting (Chieftain)

Letters to the Chieftain editor:
Co-op president responds  
SEC members have right, duty

Clip from the Nov 3rd Socorro city council meeting refering to recent letters to the editor. Nov 3 - Socorro Council video Clip.wmv

Nov 13 - This Saturday (15th) is the member’s meeting of District 3, Socorro’s center. Trustee Amaro’s letter linked below stresses the importance of attendance. Those of you who attended last year’s District 3 meeting will remember the SEC lawyer’s attempt to discredit and throw out the election that overwhelmingly elected Ms. Amaro. This move to override the members failed but unfortunately the attempts to take over the district and annual meetings have not stopped. There were no lawyers present at the District 2 meeting this past Saturday but a check of the tapes of the meeting on this website will give you an idea of the blatant and arrogant attempts to take over the meeting from the members and shut down the meeting by delaying tactics. There can be no overruling of the actions of the members by anyone especially self appointed arbitrators. When members pass a resolution, no one has the right or the power to stop them from going to the next (2015) Annual Members’ Meeting. The lawyers and management have blocked member resolutions for the past two years and that has to stop. They tell us that if we don’t like their actions to take it to court. This Saturday’s District 3 meeting is a court of public opinion. Attend and speak. Melissa Amaro's letter in the Chieftain  

Those of you who have watched the tapes of the District 2 meeting will remember Mrs. Eileen Latasa announcing to the meeting that, Charlene Wagner, could not make a motion as her husband, Charlie Wagner, had registered a joint membership and received the armband that gives the wearer the vote on issues for our membership. That is the only privilege that the band confers and the lack of an armband does not strip a district member from the right to speak, make a motion, etc. The point was not argued at the meeting in the interests of saving time but it should be noted in case attempted restriction of member rights during Saturday’s District 3 meeting. See Article I – Membership. Section3 – Joint Membership.

In addition, see this from this week's Chieftain  signed by Trustee Ann Dorough who is president of the Board of Trustees. After reading both attachments, view these videos from the last board meeting on expenses:

Questions on the Cordova PR firm expenses.wmv  (2min)
More discussion on the expense report.wmv  6min)

There is a Public Relations firm in ABQ which has been working for the SEC for the past couple of years. The exact time of employment and cost of employment is not precise as their billing came to the fore after an Inspection of Public Records request revealing that from July, 2013 to December 2013, the Wiggins, Williams & Wiggins law firm had billed through their invoices $25,094.61 for "Reimburse for Cordova Public Relations, Payment to Cordova Public Relations. The request that revealed this billing only went through December 2013. However, the Expenditure Report for May, 2014 disclosed a direct billing from Cordova PR. We have no records from January, 2014 through April, 2014 that deal with Cordova PR but the direct billing from May, 2014 through September, 2014 total $10,299.58.

The first video is astonishing as Manager Joseph Herrera clearly states that the PR firm deals with communication such as letters, bill inserts, and the back page of the Enchantment Magazine. The second video deals with Bryce Wilson, Accountant. Scroll down the right hand column for to date total amounts billed by Mr. Wilson who is training SEC staff and redoing past accounting records. We are approaching the fourth year of Mr. Wilson"s contract. You be the judge.

Download the above commentary  

DECEMBER - 2014

December 31 -
Below is a copy of a letter from SEC board chair, Anne Dorough, to the secretary of the District 2 members meeting, rejecting the minutes turned over to the SEC for the record.   Note, Dorough may "reject" the minutes, but Dorough has no authority to reject them as written. That job is the district members responsibility at the next district meeting in the fall of 2015. History shows that members can depend on every effort to be made to nullify the district meetings and/or any proposals on the chance there is a quorum at the 2015 annual meeting.  122914-Dorough Letter to Dist 2 meeting secretary  .

NM largest utility wants to charge solar owners up to
$30/month.
Shadow over roof top solar  

December 17, 23014 - Regular board meeting agenda at 1pm 17th
December 17, 2014 - Board Minutes  

December. 25 -
Co-op insurance policy in question  (Chieftain)

December 22 -
Videos from the December 17 board meeting:

Delegate selection for NMRECA annual meeting with a big suprise.wmv

Letter from Federated on potential insurance increase.wmv
Copy of the letter from Federated here.pdf   

SEC Foundation donation.wmv

2015 Youth Tour winners (names to be public once winners are notified).wmv

RUS report on co-op finances.wmv

Consultant costs for November:

Wiggins Law Firm: $8,304.00
Bryce Wilson (Accting):$ 6,087.85 (for only 7 days in Oct)
Cordova Public Relations: $2,514.50

December 15 -

Foundation meeting agenda at noon on the 17th
Action Youth Tour winners will be announced

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