2023 Annual Meeting and Trustee Elections
2023 Annual Meeting Video and Election Results
View the video of our 2023 Annual Meeting held on April 27, 2023 at the Glades County Auditorium:
563 Ballots Cast in 2023 Election
2023 Trustee Election Results
- Trustee District 5 – Venus/Hicoria: Brad Oxer received 500 votes
- Trustee District 7 – Lorida: Fred Tagtmeier received 496 votes
- Trustee District 9 – Okeechobee: Angela Hodges received 499 votes
2023 Proposed By-Law Revisions
- 516 votes for proposed by-law revisions
42 votes against proposed by-law revisions
Approval of 2022 Annual Meeting Minutes
- 544 votes for approval of the minutes
10 votes against approval of the minutes
Congratulations to our 2023 Grand Prize Drawing Winners!
- $2,500 bill credit winner: Barbara Barrett
- $1,500 bill credit winner: Eligio Rios
- $1,000 bill credit winner: Kathleen Stark
How can you participate?
- Request a mail-in ballot between February 1 and March 30, 2023. Use SmartHub, call 863-946-6200 during normal business hours, or stop by one of our offices to submit a request to receive a ballot by mail. (See details below to request via SmartHub.)
- Ballots will be mailed to members beginning March 16. Be sure to return your ballot by April 21 using the envelope provided with your ballot. Allow sufficient time for delivery to the Minnesota return address by April 21.
- Watch or attend our 2023 Annual Meeting. The meeting will be held on Thursday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the Glades County Auditorium at Moore Haven Middle-High School, 700 Terrier Pride Rd., Moore Haven. This will be a short, no-frills business meeting to announce the election results and grand prize drawing winners. (Winners do not need to be present to win.) A video recording of the meeting will be available on this webpage the day following the meeting.
What’s in it for you?
- Members returning a ballot will receive a $5 bill credit in May.
- Members returning a ballot will be entered into our grand prize drawing to win one of three prizes: bill credits in the amount of $1,000, $1,500, and $2,500.
- The opportunity to exercise your participation in the democratic member control of your electric cooperative.
What’s on the ballot?
- Trustee candidates for District 5 (Venus/Hicoria); District 7 (Lorida); District 9 (Okeechobee). For current Trustee info, click here. Nominations by petition for 2023 candidates will close on January 27, 2023. Candidate bios will be posted on this webpage when candidates running for Trustee seats are finalized.
- Proposed bylaw revision to Article IV, Section 6 corrects the reference to the removal of a Trustee. Proposed revisions will also be published on the ballot and in the April issue of Florida Currents.
- Approval of 2022 Annual Meeting minutes.
How do you request a ballot on SmartHub?
What else do you need to know?
- All voting will occur by mail-in ballot only.
- Members calling or visiting a GEC office to request a ballot will be required to verify their identity. Only the member on file can request a ballot.
- Ballots will only be mailed to the mailing address on file with the cooperative.
- Continue to check this webpage for updates and look for our official Annual Meeting notice in the April issue of Florida Currents.
- Questions? Email communications@gladeselectric.com or call 863-946-6200.
2023 Ballot Issue Information
Candidates for Districts 5, 7, and 9 are up for election this year. The approval of the 2022 Annual Meeting minutes and a by-law revision will also be on the ballot.
2023 Candidate Bios
District 5 – Venus/Hicoria
Brad Oxer – Incumbent Trustee, Nominated by Committee
Brad Oxer has served on the GEC board since June 30, 2022. Mr. Oxer has begun working on his Credentialed Cooperative Director Certificate (CCD). He has been a lifelong resident of Highlands County, and he graduated from Lake Placid High School. He has lived in Venus since 1977. His ranch, X-Bar Inc., has been in the family for three generations.
Mr. Oxer raises beef cattle on his ranch. To prepare for his career, he attended Texas Christian University and completed a certificate in ranch management in 1975. He is a past member and president of the Glades/Hendry County Farm Service Agency. Currently, he serves as a director for the Glades and Hendry Soil and Water Conservation Advisory Committee, and he is the treasurer for the Glades County Cattleman’s Association.
Brad and his wife, Kathy, have been married for 46 years and have two sons and three grandchildren. They helped found Cowboy Church, and some of the services for this organization are held at the church barn located on his property.
District 7 – Lorida
Fred Tagtmeier – Incumbent Trustee, Nominated by Committee
Fred Tagtmeier, an incumbent Trustee, has served on the GEC board since August 25, 2022. He has begun working on his Credentialed Cooperative Director Certificate (CCD). Mr. Tagtmeier has extensive knowledge of this district since he has lived in the Lorida area for 32 years, and he has been a longtime member of Glades Electric Cooperative.
Fred retired from the Highlands County Sherriff’s Office in October of 2021, where he served as an agricultural detective. His duties included coordinating efforts with agencies throughout the state of Florida to conduct and assist in investigations on active cases. He has also organized proactive operations with these agencies due to crime trends within the agricultural community. He has over 30 years of law enforcement experience.
He is a past president of the Florida Agricultural Crimes Intelligence Unit (FACIU) and current treasurer for the Highlands County Farm Bureau. He also serves on the Avon Park Air Force Range Outdoor Recreation Program advisory board.
Mr. Tagtmeier and his wife, Gena, have been married for 32 years. They have a son, a daughter, and a grandson.
District 9 – Okeechobee
Angela Hodges – Incumbent Trustee, Nominated by Committee
Angela Hodges, an Okeechobee resident since 1968, has been a member of the cooperative since 1987.
After graduating from Okeechobee High School in 1981, Angela continued her education at Indian River State College and earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational management. She is the program specialist in finance at Okeechobee County School Board and serves on numerous Okeechobee School Board committees.
Prior to joining the GEC Board of Trustees in September of 2014, Angela served on the Glades Electric Charitable Trust. She is the vice president of the Glades Electric Educational Foundation.
Angela is committed to furthering her education. Besides becoming a Credentialed Cooperative Director, she has completed several trustee training sessions and a financial workshop related to the electric industry. She has also earned NRECA’s Board Leadership certification and the Director Gold certification. In addition, she plans to attend a summer leadership conference this June.
Angela and her husband, John, have been married 40 years. They have two children, Arianna and John Alan, and a grandson, Noah, age 11.
Want to know more about nominations? Visit https://www.gladeselectric.com/about-us/board-of-trustees/.
Important Links
Proposed Bylaw Revisions on the 2023 ballot.
2022 Annual Meeting Minutes on the 2023 ballot.
2022 Annual Report