In the history of the Golden Valley Electric Association, few members in the cooperative have done as much to advocate for GVEA transparency and communication as Gary Newman, who is running for re-election to the GVEA board.

Over a period of many years, Newman attended hundreds of monthly GVEA meetings and showed the dedication necessary to educate himself on utility matters. And that was all before he ran for the board and was elected in 2015.

In earlier days, Newman worked as an individual co-op member on steps as simple and important as making meeting agendas available and publishing the minutes so all members could track what was going on.

“I believe an informed membership is in the best interest of any organization,” Newman wrote in a Daily News-Miner opinion column exactly 20 years ago on May 18, 2004.

“Members need to be encouraged and wanted in their interest. I don’t have all the answers, but GVEA doesn’t benefit from decisions made in a vacuum,” said Newman, who was urging all members to get involved and become informed.

He is intelligent, articulate and understands how complex the electric utility situation is. I really appreciate his refusal to make promises he can’t keep. That’s common sense.

Newman takes his work for the members seriously, he studies the details and he listens to people with various points of view.

For all those reasons, I am happy to support his re-election campaign. He’s been doing a good job for us and we need him on that board. There are many difficult decisions to be made and sound judgment is essential.

He represents District 4 on the GVEA map, which includes downtown Fairbanks north of Airport Way, east of Peger Road and east of the Steese Expressway to Gold Mine Trail.

If you haven’t received a ballot, or need help on e-voting, or mail-in ballots, call 855-761-9111 or write goldenvalley@alaska-cpas.com.

“GVEA is committed to doing its best with some serious headwinds outside of our control, but also with once-in-a-generation opportunities that will take a few years to come to fruition. The board has not always chosen well (e.g. Healy 2 before my time on the board), but it won’t be with a lack of due diligence as long as I serve on the board,” Newman says on his website.

In this well-reasoned column published the other day in the News-Miner, Newman said that GVEA has a responsible plan for moving ahead.

“The good news is — after years of extensive analysis and review by the board, management, and some very dedicated employees — GVEA adopted the Strategic Generation Plan, one big element of rate reduction and reliability. It telegraphs a significant change to alternate generation sources to reduce operating costs, risk, reduce volatile rates and seek sustainability for now and the future. We can do the right thing for both economic and environmental reasons,” he wrote.

If you haven’t received a ballot, or need help on e-voting, or mail-in ballots, call 855-761-9111 or write goldenvalley@alaska-cpas.com.