Clinton County farmer Greg Beard will represent the District 5 area of South Kentucky RECC that includes Clinton County, after being elected in an election that saw new directors chosen for four districts.

Beard was chosen by Co-op members across the seven districts in an election that was held this spring.

Clinton County and a portion of southern Wayne County are included in the SKRECC District 5, and Beard was elected among a group of some 13 individuals who were seeking that board position from this district.

In all, across the five districts that saw board member seats being elected, some 35 candidates were seeking election to the SKRECC board.

According to a press release from SKRECC spokesperson Joy Bullock on Monday, nearly 25 percent of the membership participated in the voting process.

Voting was concluded in the election on April 24.

The four vacant board positions were created last year when four board members suddenly announced their retirement from their seats near the end of a board meeting being held in early September.

Long-time Albany businessman Bill Shearer, who owns and operates Clinton Jewelry in Albany, was among those board members who announced their decision to leave the board by retiring.

Shearer had served as the board member representing Clinton County’s district for 36 years.

In addition to Beard, three other new board members were elected by voting Co-op members during the process, including: Cathy Crew Epperson in District 1, which serves western Pulaski County for the most part; Greg Redmon for District 2, primarily representing Russell County; Boris Haynes for District 6, which serves all of McCreary County and a portion of southern Pulaski County.

SKRECC CEO Allen Anderson said he is pleased with the election process.

“Our goal was to conduct as fair an election process as we possibly could, and I think we succeeded. The board is very pleased with the high percentage voter turnout – it showed how much interest the membership has in their co-op.

“This was a very large undertaking, but it has gone smoothly, and I think our members should be pleased with the care that was taken to be sure that the process was impartial and thorough. From the initial informational meetings held last December for potential director candidates to the actual voting process, we took extreme care to make sure everything was handled with utmost propriety.”

Anderson said that South Kentucky RECC’s board and he appreciates all the candidates that ran for the four seats.

“History has been made at the co-op. We had a great slate of people running for the four seats on our board. They ran a clean election, and allowed our membership the chance to make their voices heard.”

Anderson added that now the board can get down to the business of revamping the bylaws and conducting the business of the co-op.

“The board updated director qualifications and updated co-op bylaws pertaining to board elections, but all the bylaws need to be reviewed and revised. We will be consulting our national organization, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and looking at model bylaws provided by them, as well as having board attorney to closely scrutinize to make sure that the changes are proper and thorough.

“We want what is best for our membership. The membership is at the heart of all we do, and it is what we stand for and represent.”