Dear Members,

One year ago, a new strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, was spreading quickly across the United States and North Carolina. By mid-March, the virus was present in all fifty states. Little did we know the impact the virus would have— and would still be having—one year later.

Many of you and your family members have experienced the virus firsthand. Some have even lost family members and friends from complications brought on by the virus.

CEO Dale Lambert

Unfortunately, COVID-19 is still spreading rapidly as I pen this article. We still have a long way to go but as vaccinations increase, we are looking forward to the situation hopefully improving in the summer and fall.

This month’s articles are focused on providing you details of the 2021 Randolph EMC Annual Meeting and elections process. Detailed planning for our Annual Meeting begins months in advance to allow for proper notifications and reports to the membership.

With that in mind, and the desire to return to our normal meeting schedule in June, the Randolph EMC Board of Directors had to decide on the format for the 2021 Annual Meeting in January. Since it is impossible to know what the COVID-19 conditions will be in June, your Board of Directors opted to hold the 2021 Annual Meeting virtually again this year for the safety of the members and employee team.

The 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting will be held on Friday, June 18, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. This follows our normally scheduled meeting date and time. Since the meeting will be held virtually again this year, members will be able to view it online at the time of the event and it will also be posted online at RandolphEMC.com to view any time that is convenient for you. We will provide more details in the months ahead so please continue to check for updates from us.

The 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting will be held on Friday, June 18, 2021, at 6:30 p.m.

What’s critical this month, as noted in the enclosed pages, is the nomination, petition and Director election process. To accommodate this year’s special circumstances, the Board of Directors approved emergency bylaws (PDF) that will expire after this year’s Annual Meeting.These bylaws address any changes resulting from a virtual format, but members interested in running for the Board still have the same avenues for candidacy as we’ve always had.

The following is an overview of the nomination and petition process. The first option for a member wishing to join the ballot is to alert the Nominating Committee:

1. At this link (PDF), you’ll find a list of the Nominating Committee members for those districts up for election: Districts 5, 8 and 9. We can provide the contact information for Committee members if requested.
2. Any eligible member who seeks to run for the Director position in his or her district may contact a member of the Nominating Committee to let them know he or she is interested in becoming a candidate.
3. The member must then submit his or her qualification forms to the Committee for review prior to the Nominating Committee’s meeting that will be held on the evening of Thursday, March 18. These qualification forms are available online and at each office.

The other option to run for the Board of Directors is through petition:

1. Any eligible member who would like to run for the Director position in the relevant districts may file a petition to join the ballot.
2. The member must submit the following, in person, at either Randolph EMC office by 5:00 p.m. on March 31, 2021:
   1. A petition with 15 or more signatures from active members and
   2. Completed qualification forms. These forms are available online and at each office.

To be fiscally responsible, we made a change in this year’s Director election process. In the case of an uncontested election the Credentials and Election Committee, which is comprised solely of REMC members, will elect the sitting Directors by acclamation. Election by acclamation is the process typically used at our in-person Annual Meetings. We made this decision to save money on unnecessarily distributing ballots for an uncontested election.

In the case of a contested election, the Credentials & Election Committee will work directly with an independent third party to conduct this year’s election in advance of the Annual Meeting. Just like last year, instead of in-person voting, members will vote by mailing in a paper ballot or by casting their vote on a secure online site. When we have determined whether there will be a contested election, we will explain voting procedures over the next couple of months in Watts Working.

As in the past, prizes will be distributed for members who participate either by voting in a contested election or by registering for the meeting in the case of an uncontested election. We will furnish additional details about this in the next few months as well, so please stay tuned.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Fred Smith or myself at the Asheboro office. I appreciate all the hard work on the part of the member committees, Board of Directors and employee team in planning for a unique Annual Meeting again this year.

I miss seeing you and I’m looking forward to the time when we can meet in-person as a cooperative family again. For me, Annual Meetings are just not the same without that personal interaction. Hopefully and prayerfully, we will be able to see each other, eyeball to eyeball, in 2022. Please continue to stay safe.

Cooperatively Yours,

Dale F. Lambert Chief Executive Officer