SCOTT CITY – Members of Wheatland Electric Cooperative Inc., have elected a new trustee and two incumbents to its 10-member board during this year’s 74th Annual Meeting, held April 27, in Scott City and at seven remote meeting locations across southwest and central Kansas.
Members of the electric cooperative, who attended in record numbers this year, voted to elect Dustin Stansbury, Harper, following a nomination that was made from the floor at a remote meeting site in Harper.
Harper, located in Wheatland’s District 7 region, is part of a south central Kansas district which includes communities across Sumner, Harper, Kingman and Sedgwick counties.
Stansbury challenged existing Wheatland trustee William “Woody” Barnes, Caldwell, who was nominated by Wheatland’s nominating committee for a third three-year term of six available terms.
Barnes, first elected to the board in 2008 when District 7 was acquired through the Aquila purchase in 2007, served as Wheatland trustee president and as an alternate board member for Sunflower Electric Power Corporation, the cooperative’s generation and transmission power supplier.
Exactly 450 registered individuals, including 39 members represented by proxy, across Wheatland’s eight meeting locations also elected Wes Campbell, Garden City, as their District 5 trustee, and Bob Hiss, Great Bend, as their District 6 trustee.
District 5 represents Finney County, eastern Kearny County, and a portion of Gray County. District 6 represents the City of Great Bend in Barton County.
Both Campbell and Hiss, who were nominated by the cooperative’s nominating committee, faced no challengers and will begin serving their third consecutive three-year term of six available.
A record total of 501 attendees, including special guests and other non-members, were in attendance on April 27 across eight meeting locations. In addition to the primary meeting location in Scott City and remote meeting in Harper, additional remote meetings were also held in Leoti, Tribune, Syracuse, Garden City, Great Bend and Caldwell.
Members at every location were able to ask questions, offer comments, or choose to make nominations in real time as they viewed the primary meeting location held in Scott City. In addition to voting, members in attendance enjoyed a meal at every location and took home a special gift as a thank you for their attendance.
This year’s theme, “Driving Energy for Life,” reflects Wheatland’s commitment to be future-focused. In addition to unveiling new services like our electric vehicle and generator programs and laying the roadmap for what’s ahead at Wheatland, the meeting was an opportunity to share important news and information from this past year, putting 2021 in the rearview.
Alli Conine, director of member services and corporate communications at Wheatland Electric, also presented awards to 14 high school seniors and four high school juniors from Wheatland’s service territory who were recipients of $1,000 scholarships.
Barnes, sitting board president, also recognized several Wheatland Electric employees and trustees for their dedication to the cooperative, ranging from five years to 40 years of service. No new business was discussed at this year’s annual meeting.
The annual meeting summary video is available on YouTube channel (youtu.be/-XKwj2LkzXY), where a livestream of the meeting will also be made available soon. In addition, the 2021 Annual Report can be downloaded from the website (www.weci.net/annual-meetings-reports), and printed copies are available at all local Wheatland offices.
Members with questions are free to contact their local Wheatland office or send their questions to memberservices@weci.net.
