Tri-County Electric Cooperative members spent the past six months working collaboratively to oust the entire Tri-County board for abuses surrounding board compensation and other possible wrongdoing. Co-op members across Tri-County’s six-county service area collected more than 1,600 signatures on petitions, held community meetings, attended Tri-County board meetings — ones properly announced and those unannounced — to amass enough member support for a special member called meeting. As a result, the entire board was ousted in August by a vote of more than 1,400 to 30. Tri-County co-op members followed their member-approved bylaws throughout the entire process, and on Nov. 17, they elected nine new members to the Tri-County Electric Cooperative board. Working with co-op members in their grassroots effort was for me a testament to the power of an informed community.