Chena’s husband Gary was re-elected to the Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) Board of Directors June 2018. GVEA is the regional electric co-op for much of Interior Alaska. It was a close election, winning by just 5 votes. His opponent Frank Eagle, co-owner of Lavelle’s Bistro, ran a negative, falsehood filled campaign in the Trump mold. Sad and it reflects badly on Frank’s character. Regardless, a win is a win and Gary will now serve his second 3 year term. Niilo would be proud as Gary works hard to promote the meaning of a cooperative, member engagement, and transparency along with other board duties.

Update: re-elected again in 2021 with a much wider margin, Gary focused on what was good for our members while the opponent’s supporters were mostly Republicans trying to make it a partisan election. Of interest, Gary’s opponent in 2018 supported Gary.

You can read more about GVEA activities through Gary’s eyes at gvea.chena.org and his Facebook page Newman.for.GVEA