ing environment for the Cobb EMC employees that is the envy of
other EMC’s nationwide.
Ethics
I will present a motion for the board to adopt a new code of ethics
for the board members.
Transparency and Accountability
The Georgia Legislature has empowered the Cobb EMC membership with the duty to regulate itself. I believe that the only way for
Cobb EMC members to properly regulate the cooperative is to have
the opportunity to fully understand the operations at Cobb EMC.
The Cobb EMC board needs to give the members the tools needed
to fulfill their duty by creating greater transparency. I will ensure that
Cobb EMC will have open board meetings which are accessible to
the members and the media. Georgia Law provides EMC members
with the right to inspect the financial records of Cobb EMC. I will
ensure that the restrictions put in place by the previous boards are
removed to ensure that members have access to inspect the Cobb
EMC records upon request. Members will have the ability to keep the
Cobb EMC board members accountable by knowing how director’s
vote and members will not have to wait 30 days to review the board
minutes.
TRIPPER Sharp
Area 5
Biography
William “Tripper” Sharp, III is a graduate of Wheeler High School
and a graduate of Kennesaw State University with a B.S. in Political
Science. Tripper is currently employed as a Senior Loan Officer with
Generation Mortgage, is licensed in 34 states and has worked in the
mortgage industry for over 11 years.
He is a founding member of the Cobb EMC Owners Association
and until recently he served on the Executive Committee of the
CEOA.
For the last five years, Tripper has been a vocal critic of the Cobb
EMC board’s transgressions and continues to be a voice of reform
for Cobb EMC members.
Forensic Audit
It is imperative that the Cobb EMC board has a full understanding
of what has happened in the past. The Board also must have a full
understanding of where Cobb EMC is financially so the board can
effectively plot a course for the future. As a member of the plaintiffs
group, I believe that I am in a unique position to ensure that the corruption uncovered through the derivative action is looked at closely
by the forensic audit. No stone should go unturned and the final
forensic audit report should be made available to the membership.
Election Platform
At the 2007 Cobb EMC annual meeting I began my mission to reform
Cobb EMC. At that meeting I publically urged the Cobb EMC board
and then CEO Dwight Brown to be more forthcoming with information regarding the unusual Cobb Energy and Cobb EMC business
relationship. I attempted to make a motion to require the board to
make this disclosure and was not allowed to have the membership
vote on the motion. A month after that meeting, Bo Pounds, Butch
Thompson, Skip Smith, Dianne Brackin, Jim Gladstone and I filed a
derivative lawsuit on behalf of the Cobb EMC membership.
After four long years of intense litigation, this lawsuit has resulted
in the termination of the 11% Cobb Energy adder fee, the transfer of
Cobb EMC assets back to Cobb EMC after they had been improperly transferred to Cobb Energy, the creation of a process for fair
Cobb EMC board elections, and the dissolution of Cobb Energy’s
unprofitable businesses. We ended retirement packages for new
board members, and ended the tenure of Dwight Brown as CEO.
According to court records, these actions have saved Cobb EMC
members over $100 million.
For the past five years I have been actively working to reform
Cobb EMC and restore control back to the members of Cobb EMC.
As a director of the Cobb EMC board it will be my main goal to reestablish trust between the Cobb EMC board, Cobb EMC employees
and the members of Cobb EMC. I will ensure that the Cobb EMC
board is fulfilling its mission to provide safe and reliable electric services to its members for the lowest possible cost and create a work-
Amendment of the Cobb EMC Bylaws
The Cobb EMC bylaws are in serious need of being amended. I
would like to see a committee of Cobb EMC members and directors
draft new bylaws to be presented to the membership for a vote at
the next annual meeting. These bylaw amendments should include
a members’ bill of rights and a mail-in ballot with proper security
measures. Members should be able to have the ability to vote for
their directors by mail-in ballot and provisions need to be included to
prevent Cobb EMC funds from being used to support any candidate
for the board of directors. We also need to ensure that protections
are put in place so that members can be assured that what has transpired in the past can never happen again.
Term Limits
I believe that 30 years on the Cobb EMC board is way too long. I
would like to see the board terms limited to no more than three terms
(9 years).
Member Input
The Cobb EMC board should consistently seek member input
on major policy changes and major commitments of Cobb EMC
resources. As your director, I will ensure that Cobb EMC members
will be able to contact me directly either by phone or email to address
any concerns you may have.
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