Smith, Downen, Ruby re-elected to Flathead Electric Co-op board

Incumbents Emery Smith, Jay Downen and Alan Ruby have been re-elected to the Flathead Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees. Ballots were due at the offices of auditing firm JCCS by April 10, and FEC announced the election results Friday.

Smith, who was re-elected from District 2, was the only opposed trustee. He received 2,361 votes. Challengers Ken Siderius had 2,163, Ed Berry 1,509 and Terry Moore 726.

Downen was re-elected from District 3, and Ruby from District 5.

A proposed bylaw change which, under exceptional circumstances, would allow trustees to attend a board meeting by telephone or other audible means of communication, was approved by members with 5,707 voting "yes" and 855 voting "no."

FEC received certification of the election from Tony Vanomy, a CPA at JCCS. A total of 6,993 ballots were received.

About 500 members were registered at FEC's 72nd annual members' meeting March 21 at the Christian Center, and there were more than 1,000 in attendance. Participants learned about the financial stability of the Co-op and Flathead Electric's continued focus on energy efficiency. They also heard from the members running for trustee positions.