Meet Your WEC Board Candidates

Special Meeting

Join us to hear reports from General Manager Ned Ratterman and Board President Mike Collins, and for the cooperative’s board of director election results. November 20, 2021, 11 am, virtually via Zoom.

In place of the traditional annual meeting, Wasco Electric Cooperative will hold a special meeting to share cooperative happenings and announce the board of director results.

The virtual platform allows members to join via smartphone, tablet, or computer. Information to log in and join is included in the ballot information mailed to members November 1.

All members who join us Saturday, November 20, at 11 a.m. receive a $25 bill credit on their December billing statements.

We encourage all members to keep our democratic processes strong by voting for your board of directors by mail.

District #1

Bob Hammel, incumbent

Bob Hammel represents the fourth generation to farm the land on Center Ridge near Dufur. Bob raises wheat and cattle on Center Ridge, Tygh Ridge, and in the Boyd area.

Bob grew up on Center Ridge, attending grade school and high school in Dufur. After graduation from Dufur High School in 1972, Bob went on to Oregon State University, where he earned a bachelor’s in animal science with a minor in soils and crops. He then returned home to farm and raise a family with his wife, Nancy, on Tygh Ridge.

Bob has served on several county and agricultural boards, including Wasco County Wheat League, Dufur Recreation Board, and Wasco County Farm Service Agency Board.

Bob has enjoyed learning about energy and its sources while serving on the Wasco Electric Cooperative Board of Directors and has completed the board of directors credentialed certification program.

“Being able to take an active role in providing safe, reliable and affordable energy to the members of the Wasco Electric Cooperative community has been a privilege and a pleasure,” he says.

District #2

Stacy Eakin, incumbent

Stacy was raised in Sherman County and graduated from Sherman High School in 1985. She attended Columbia Basin College and worked at UPS and her parents’ mini-mart in Hermiston.

She returned to Sherman County in 1991 and married her husband, Brad. They raised two boys on the Eakin family farm near Grass Valley while Stacy worked for the Sherman County School District as a teaching assistant and librarian. In 2010, she became full-time support on the farm as bookkeeper, tractor driver, and agriculture tech.

Stacy has enjoyed learning about the electric industry while serving on the Wasco Electric Cooperative Board of Directors and looks forward to continuing to serve members.

District #3

Mike Collins, incumbent

“I want to take this time to communicate what an opportunity it has been serving as your director for the past 15 years, the past year as your president.

My wife, Cecelia, and I live with our family in Simnasho in South Wasco County on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. We have six children: five daughters and one son.

I am the tribes’ director of managed care and have been employed with the tribes for the last 24 years.

The past two years have been especially trying with the pandemic and crazy weather cycles. As you have heard me say many times, our co-op family is important, and we must continue to think of each other and make decisions that are best for our membership, our community, our co-op family. Let’s continue to work together for the good of our membership.

By staying current on our needs and educating ourselves, we will be able to evaluate all avenues and make decisions that are best for the membership and to be able to provide all of you with reliable, low-cost electricity.”

District #3

Isaac George

Isaac lives in the north end of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and has lived there for the past 19 years.

Isaac attended Warm Springs Elementary and Madras High School. He went to Central Oregon Community College and Whatcom Community College.

He has worked for The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in finance since November 1999. He is currently serving on the board of directors for Warm Springs Ventures.

“My goal is to continue with having representation from our service area,” he says. “With my current experience serving on a board of directors, this will help me step in without any difficulties.”