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TVARA/Stokes Have Chance to Make Things Right

Allen Stokes, the retiree TVARS director, will have an opportunity to vote with the three TVARS elected directors on Tuesday to overturn the "term limit" rule. Allen Stokes, with support from someone in TVARA leadership (as evidenced by the May 9, 2018 letter from TVARA President DeWitt Burleson to CEO William Johnson and TVARS Chairman Brian Child), voted for the term limit rule on June 15, 2018. Why would someone in TVARA leadership ask Allen Stokes to vote for a rule which eliminates the most knowledgeable and well-known champion of TVA retirees from the TVARS Board? Why would Allen Stokes vote for it even if asked?

I can at least understand why Tammy Wilson, VP, Treasurer and CRO, Christopher Hinton, VP Compensation & Benefits, and Brian Child, Director of Forecasting & Financial Planning, voted for the "term limit" rule. They are ambitious, want to advance their careers, and do not want to jeopardize that by voting against CEO William Johnson's wishes. But why Allen Stokes? Doesn't he want the TVA pension to be funded per GAO recommendations? Doesn't he want retirees to quit worrying about another attempt to reduce benefits and the off-load of pension liabilities to an insurance company?

Please contact TVARA leadership to ask Allen Stokes to vote to overturn the "term limit" rule in the special called TVARS meeting to be held at 8:30 am on July 31. This meeting was called by Sam DeLay, Jim Hovious and I for the sole purpose of voting to overturn this rule.

TVARA
WT 8C-K

Phone: 865-632-3318
E-mail: tvara@tva.gov

Please consider inserting your submissions, and any additional suggested contacts, as comments below and/or on Facebook.

July 31, 2018 Update:  Allen Stokes did not even bother to attend the special called meeting today to discuss reversing the “term limit” amendment.  Vice Presidents Tammy Wilson and Christopher Hinton also did not attend.  The vote was 3 to 1 to reverse the amendment. Per TVARS rules, the motion failed because it did not get four votes.  Jim Hovious, Sam DeLay and I voted to reverse it, while Director Brian Child voted against.



Comments

  1. From Facebook: Allen Stokes you have an opportunity to correct a wrong and can do this by voting to overturn the "term limit" rule in the special called TVARS meeting to be held July 31. If you can not vote to correct this, can you explain why?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another from Facebook:

    Mr. Stokes,

    You have an opportunity to correct a wrong perpetuated upon the fine, hard working employees and retirees of TVA. You can correct this wrong by simply voting to overturn the "term limit" rule in the special called TVARS meeting scheduled for July 31, 2018.

    If you cannot, or do not, vote to correct this wrong, please kindly explain why to those you are supposed to be acting on the behalf of.

    Thank you for your time,

    ReplyDelete
  3. Another via email:

    TVARA Leadership,

    I have been doing some research to understand the historical problems that term limits were created to address. For example, in the case of the US Senate, term limits were a compromise response to fears that a six-year-term designed to mitigate against short-term political pressures might foster the development of an unreachable aristocracy within the governing body. Term limits for other political offices were proposed as a protection against the creation of career politicians.

    None of these concerns applies in the case of the TVARS Board.

    Looking to the Boards of Directors of publicly-held for-profit corporations, only five percent have term limits, according to a recent benchmarking effort conducted by Deloitte and the Society for Corporate Governance. If the Board for TVA, which is on the scale of large-cap companies, does not impose term limits, why should the Board for TVARS, which is on the scale of mid-cap companies?

    In the arena of non-profit institutions, term limits are often proposed as a means of gaining fresh perspectives and maintaining constituency alignment, but come at the price of loss expertise and institutional knowledge. It is also worth noting that these positions are usually filled through selection rather than election, so these considerations would apply more to the appointed members of the TVARS Board than to the popularly elected members.

    The recent vote to suddenly impose term limits in the middle of an election cycle gives the unfortunate appearance of targeting a specific outspoken board member who enjoys wide popular support. A mechanism is already in place for dismissing troublesome board members, and that process should be used where needed.

    If it is the intent of the TVARS Board to proceed with the introduction of term limits for a necessary purpose of responsible governance, it should be announced and have an effective date well before the beginning of an election cycle. The amendment should also be worded in a way that does not allow the potential for circumvention by members appointed to partial terms; i.e., language should be included to limit the total number of years that any individual may serve in a lifetime.

    TVARS has been plagued with significant controversy in recent years and does not need to create more where it is easily avoidable.

    PLEASE ASK ALLEN STOKES TO VOTE ON JULY 31, 2018, TO OVERTURN TERM LIMITS, and replace the amendment at a later time, if truly necessary, with one that is more tightly worded and better timed with respect to the election cycle.

    Sincerely,

    ReplyDelete
  4. Another via email:

    Mr. Stokes,
    Please allow TVA employees to elect the most qualified person to the retirement board regardless of term limits. It doesn't make sense for you to side with management on this issue. After all, this is your retirement security we're discussing too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Another via email:

    Please ask Allen Stokes to vote to overturn the "term limit" rule in the special called TVARS meeting to be held at 8:30 am on July 31. This rule unfairly targets Leonard Muzyn, who has worked tirelessly over the years for the benefit of all retirement system members. As a retiree, I believe he has been our best advocate and has worked hard to try and secure the long term heath of the retirement system and our benefits. If I were able to vote in the board elections I would definitely vote for Leonard to continue to serve on the TVARS Board. TVARS has not had term limits throughout its 79 year history and it should not adopt them now.

    Please urge Allan Stokes to vote to overturn the term limit rule.

    ReplyDelete

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