PEP Begins Revision of By-Laws

Carla Scranton, Aaron Leiker and Rick Robbins at PEP Meeting

Carla Scranton, Aaron Leiker and Rick Robbins at PEP Meeting

Prowers Economic Prosperity met for the first time on Tuesday, September 27th following its revision as PCDI.  President Rick Robbins informed the newly formed economic development group, that the proposed changes to the new by-laws are still a work in progress and attorney John Lefferdink wants to review them before they are adopted.  County Commissioner, Ron Cook, said another meeting would be needed before the revisions could be reviewed and voted on.  That confirmation is required before PEP can officially bring in the new membership to the board and function as the new economic development group for Prowers County.

PEP Board Members Discuss By-Law Changes

PEP Board Members Discuss By-Law Changes

Most of the revisions deal with board of director’s membership. As Robbins pointed out, ”The new members will be appointed, not voted on as in the past.”  This corresponds to the new membership process in which board positions will be open to those individuals or institutions that make a financial contribution to PEP.  There are some exceptions, such as having membership open to Lamar Community College.  And some seats do not include voting privileges, such as for Angie Cue, Lamar’s Community Development Director.  However, the board will consist of a voting member from the City of Lamar, and Councilwoman Ann-Marie Crampton, a former PCDI president, was recently appointed to serve a three year term.  Although PUMA, Progressive Urban Management Associates, which offered guidelines to restructure PCDI into PEP, recommended a board of up to 15 members, there are indications that the board may be expanded to as many as 20 seats once the new by-laws have been adopted.  That expanded membership would also translate into additional funding from the private sector for the economic development group.

Some former PCDI board members will relinquish their seats with the adoption of the new by-laws. Robbins commented, “I’d like to commend those members who knew that they would not have a seat when we made these changes.  They decided to remain on the board to help with the process and that display of dedication to their communities is noted and appreciated.”  He did not mention any specific names for those who would step down, but did allow that some new members would include Peter Page from Frontier Bank and Denise Carder from Valley National Bank.  Robbins said he was waiting to learn who would represent the other contributing banks from the community.  Other new members include Eric Niemeyer, Executive Director of High Plains Community Health Center and Glenn Otto, Mayor Pro-Tem from the Town of Granada and Dr. Linda Lujan, Lamar Community College president.  The Towns of Wiley and Holly will also send their representatives to serve as voting board members although those persons did not attend at the morning meeting.

A new meeting date and time was suggested to accommodate the schedules of the new membership but nothing was decided at this time. Meetings will still be held at the Rodeway Cow Palace Inn, but have been relocated to the Colorado Room simply because of lack of seating space.  PEP will still be headquartered in its current office.

By Russ Baldwin

 

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