Grady EMC board to meet in Bainbridge on Friday morning

A special called board meeting of the Grady Electric Membership Corporation will be held in Bainbridge this Friday.
The Grady EMC board is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. at the Charles H. Kirbo Regional Center at Southern Regional Technical College, formerly Bainbridge State College, 2500 E. Shotwell Street.
The purpose of the meeting is for mediation with President Thomas A. (Bo) Rosser Jr., concerning employment contract negotiations and/or contract buyout, a settlement of all claims between Rosser, Grady EMC, its directors and contractors and other matters that may come before the board.
The mediation will be conducted by Judge Lama W. Sizemore Jr., of Macon. Judge Sizemore was a superior court judge of the Macon Judicial Circuit from Jan. 3, 2001 through Dec. 31, 2010.
Judge Sizemore is the founder of South Georgia Mediation Service, now South Georgia ADR, and he has served as a mediator in hundreds of cases since 1988. He is a graduate of Mercer University and the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.
Allegedly, Grady EMC president Rosser is seeking a package valued in excess of $1 million to exit the co-op thus ending the three generations of the Rosser family serving as the president and general manager of Grady EMC.
Critics of Rosser and the management of Grady EMC, led by Gordon Clyatt, who is a member of the Grady EMC board of directors, expressed concern that the meeting was not being held in Grady County as previously stated by lawyers involved in the mediation.
“Did they move the location because of the peaceful demonstration that took place at Grady EMC during the August board meeting?” Clyatt asked.
A number of Grady EMC members staged a peaceful protest outside of the co-op’s headquarters last Wednesday while the EMC board met for its regular monthly meeting.
Those protesting are supporters of a group known as Take Back Our Grady EMC, a group started by Clyatt and others. In addition to transparency in the operations and management of the co-op, the group is seeking changes in management and the replacement of incumbent members of the board of directors, with the exception of Clyatt, Ronald Sellars and Hetsell Donaldson.
The Aug. 1 meeting of the board was the first to be live streamed via the internet and can be seen by visiting the Grady EMC website at gradyemc.com.
According to EMC officials, each monthly meeting of the the co-op’s board will now be live streamed.