It has recently been confirmed that David Crawford, who was previously announced to have been elected to the Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) Board of Directors for Position 2 at the cooperative’s annual meeting on August 6, 2026, does not meet the qualifications to serve as a director. As a consequence of this invalid election to Position 2, he is not, and never was, an OTEC Director. The results for all other board positions are unaffected.
When an OTEC member-owner submits their application for board nomination, they complete and attest in the Affirmation of Director Qualifications form (found at otec.coop/annual-meeting-cooperative-update). Each candidate must sign this affirmation prior to running for the Board.
The reason this election was invalid is that Article III, Section 5 of OTEC’s Bylaws states that “No member shall be eligible to be a director of the Cooperative: . . . (iii) who is or has in the preceding 60 months been a director, officer, agent or member of a collective bargaining organization that is seeking, has or had agreements with the Cooperative regarding the terms and conditions of employment with the Cooperative.”
It has been confirmed that Mr. Crawford is, or within the preceding 60 months has been, a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 125, a collective bargaining organization that is seeking, has or had agreements with OTEC regarding the terms and conditions of employment within the Cooperative. Mr. Crawford has been notified of this determination.
Per OTEC’s bylaws, “The qualified candidate for director for each director vacancy receiving the highest number of votes at an annual meeting, even if less than a majority of the votes cast, shall be elected as director.”
A copy of OTEC’s Bylaws can also be viewed on the OTEC website at: otec.coop/about-otec#bylaws.
Because Mr. Crawford was not a qualified candidate, the qualified candidate who received the highest number of votes for Position 2 is elected under OTEC’s bylaws. Aletha Bonebrake received 1,291 votes and will assume Board Position 2 representing Baker County.