Sellers and Stuckey seek seats on Grady EMC board

Two longtime members of Grady Electric Membership Cooperative are working to make sure their names appear on the ballot for the upcoming election of directors to represent two of the EMC’s seven districts.
Ronald Sellers and Earl Stuckey announced this week their intentions to run for election to the EMC board.
Sellers, who is seeking the District 2 seat currently held by Caylor Ouzts, has been a member of the EMC since 1958.
Stuckey, who is seeking the District 5 seat currently held by H. Lamar Strickland, has been an EMC member since 1972.
Sellers and Stuckey sent certified letters to the EMC’s nominating committee Monday requesting the committee consider nominating them and including their names on the ballot this fall.
In addition to lobbying the nominating committee, Sellers and Stuckey picked up petition forms Tuesday that if signed by 50 bona fide members of the EMC will guarantee their candidacy for the EMC board per the co-op’s bylaws. The prospective board candidates attempted to pick up the necessary paperwork Monday, but were told the EMC’s chief financial officer Pat Reed was unavailable so they returned Tuesday and obtained the necessary forms.
“Transparency is the big word. That’s the reason I’m running. I want to see the EMC operated in a transparent fashion,” Sellers said Monday.
Stuckey said this week he was running to “look after the members.”
“Hopefully, I can use my 35 years of business experience for the betterment of the co-op and its members,” Stuckey added.
Both men say there are many things they would like to see changed in the management and operation of the EMC including term limits for directors, mailed ballots for co-op elections, and requirements to obtain a minimum of three competitive bids for products and services purchased by the EMC.
In addition to a desire to serve their community, both men say they have the time to commit to the job.
Sellers retired from the U.S. Postal Service in 1995 after a 30 year career. From 1996 until 2003 he worked as a federal crop insurance adjuster before retiring a second time.
Sellers and his wife Johnnie have two sons and three grandchildren. The couple celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary Sunday.
Sellers is one of five plaintiffs who sued Grady EMC over some of its business practices and alleged mismanagement. The suit was settled earlier this year.
The Sellers resided at 2493 GA Hwy. 188, Cairo.
Stuckey works with his son in their family owned concrete construction company, but on a part-time basis.
He and his wife, Peggy, have one son and are anxiously expecting their first grandchild in October. They reside at 3298 Hwy. 179 South, Whigham.
Grady EMC voters will only vote on directors for Districts 2 and 5 when the annual membership meeting is held on Oct. 21. The terms for directors are for three years.
According to Grady EMC President and General Manager Bo Rosser, the nominating committee is scheduled to meet on Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. at the EMC headquarters.
Each year the board of directors appoints a nominating committee, which nominates candidates for election to the open seats. Those appointed to serve on the nominating committee are Douglas Roddenbery, Cole L. Prince, James Robert Maxwell, Lowell E. Dollar, Robert L. Gainey, Freddie Bryant, Ronald W. Smith, and Julian E. Robinson.
According to Rosser, the bylaws were amended by the membership in 2007 that allowed the nominating committee to nominate only one candidate for open seats, which has eliminated contested elections for board seats.
Rosser said the change was made because members were being nominated who had no interest in serving.
Last fall, John P. Bell Jr., broke that drought of uncontested races when he challenged longtime director Dewey Brock Jr. Bell came up 66 votes shy of Brock, who has served on the board since 1997.
Rosser said this week that both Ouzts and Strickland would seek reelection.
Outzs was appointed to the board in Feb. 2014 to fill the unexpired term of the late Donald Cooper. He is the owner and operator of Ouzts Cattle Company.
Strickland was appointed to the EMC board in Feb. 2012 to fill the unexpired term of the late Lee O. Maxwell III. He then ran unopposed in Oct. 2013 and was elected to a three year term. Strickland is a farmer and is retired from the Georgia Boll Weevil Eradication Program with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Rosser says the renewed interest in members wanting to serve on the board is “a good thing.” He also encourages the members to take time to attend this year’s annual meeting, which will be held at Family Worship Center, 1760 U.S Hwy. 84 W.