Back to Blog

OPALCO Board Election Opens March 11th: Meet the Candidates

As a member-owned cooperative, OPALCO members elect the Board of Directors who are responsible for setting policies and rates, essentially guiding the course for our electric utility.  The 2022 nominations process is complete and the slate of candidates is:

  • District 1 (one open position): Mark Madsen – incumbent, Steven Carleton, Jessa Madosky
  • District 3 (one open position): Brian Silverstein – incumbent
  • District 4 (one open position): Jerry Whitfield – incumbent

Ballots and voting materials will be sent to all co-op members on March 11th via regular mail and e-mail (if there is an email address on file). OPALCO is required to get a quorum of at least 10% of the membership and will be encouraging voter participation by sending paper ballots to every member this year. Our third-party election vendor, Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS), has measures in place to make sure each voter gets only one vote. All members vote for one open position in each district (three districts with open positions in this election) regardless of where they live.

Candidate information is available now on OPALCO’s elections hub: https://www.opalco.com/election-hub/ and a virtual candidate forum is scheduled for March 15th at 5:00pm via Zoom. Register for the candidate forum online: https://www.opalco.com/event/board-candidate-forum/.

The election closes on April 27th @ 10:00am PT. Ballots must be submitted online or by mail to SBS; no ballots can be accepted at OPALCO offices. Election results will be announced at the virtual Annual Meeting via Zoom on Saturday, April 30th (9-11a) and then posted online and published in local papers.

You may also like...

what3words bingo

what3words BINGO

OPALCO and Orcas Island Fire & Rescue are partnering to bring you an exciting event in August – what3words Bingo! This August, we are encouraging San Juan County community members … Read more
who owns what equipment graphic

Who Owns What? Equipment Graphic

  Check out this graphic illustrating an example of what electrical equipment is owned by the co-op vs. what electrical equipment is owned by you, the member! For questions about … Read more
Utility workers maintain power lines among tall trees on a rural road.

Clearing the Way on the Islands

Ongoing maintenance keeps the lights on and reduces wildfire risk across San Juan County Right of Way (ROW) trimming is the practice of trimming and/or removing vegetation under and around … Read more