Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) is a private, non-profit electric cooperative which is owned by the members it serves and is governed by a Board of Directors who are elected by the member-owners and are accountable to the member-owners. The Board of Directors makes business and policy decisions in setting the direction of OTEC. Directors are elected to serve three-year terms.
To ensure strong local leadership, member-owners elect directors on a rotating basis from each of OTEC’s four districts.
In 2026, the nominating committees nominated the following individuals for the OTEC Board of Directors:
• Position 1, Union County: Jeff D. Clark, incumbent.
• Position 2, Baker County: Aletha Bonebrake, incumbent; and David Crawford.
• Position 3, Harney County: Robert Cargill, incumbent; and Fred Hellbusch.
OTEC members who live in these counties are still eligible to run for the 2026 Board election by petition. A petition form may be requested by calling the OTEC Administration office at 541-524-2827. Please mail candidate forms to your local OTEC office or drop them off. For further questions, contact the Administration office. More information is available at www.otec.coop/annual-meeting.
Nominations by petition are due June 7, 2026. Election ballots and candidate information will be mailed to OTEC member-owners at the beginning of July. Election results will be announced at OTEC's annual meeting on August 6, 2026, at OTEC's Baker City
headquarters.
OTEC BYLAWS
Article III: Nomination and Election of Directors
Section 3 – Each nomination committee shall submit its nominations to the Secretary of the Cooperative not less than 90 days before the annual meeting in which the director from that district is to be elected. The function and authority of each committee shall terminate upon completion of the annual meeting.
Section 4 – Not less than 90 days before the annual meeting in which the directors shall be elected, the Secretary of the Cooperative shall cause to be posted at the Cooperative’s principal place of business a list of names of candidates selected by the nominating committee. Additional nominations may be made by petition filed with the Secretary not less than 60 days before the annual meeting. A petition shall contain the name of the candidate and the signatures of at least 50 members qualified to vote, and a request that the name of the candidate be placed on the ballot. All candidates so nominated must meet the director qualifications contained in Section 5 of this article. Members may not nominate a candidate for director from the floor at the annual meeting.
To learn more about OTEC, the OTEC Board of Directors, the 2026 Board Nominating committees, or the 2026 Annual Meeting, please visit www.otec.coop .