I do not know what the litigation and indictment outcome will be for Dwight Brown, the officers and/or the directors of Cobb EMC. Do not forget that the employees of Cobb EMC are the foundation of the company. There is something negative about Cobb EMC in the newspaper almost every day.
As a former employee of Cobb EMC, I can say that the employees of Cobb EMC are some of the best people around. They are hardworking, generous and caring people. I do know that this lawsuit and indictment of Mr. Brown has caused these people much anguish.
If the efforts are successful in their takeover of Cobb EMC, the rumor is that these men have said they will reduce salaries, do away with benefits and outsource most of the jobs (India?). This would be a great disservice to all of the Cobb EMC employees and to the members of the EMC who have received courteous, immediate and caring service from them. Have they considered that the impact it would have on Cobb and surrounding counties? Should these employees lose their jobs and benefits, it will affect the business, entertainment, financial centers, Cobb County and surrounding counties not to mention the families that have suffered the economic upheaval of the past years.
I am a former employee of Cobb EMC who had to retire due to health problems. When I was in intensive care and in a coma for two weeks, the employees of Cobb EMC came and sat with my family, brought food for them, prayed for me, phoned to check on my status and raised a "love" offering for me. When I came out of the coma and was stabilized, they took turns coming to visit me. When I was released from the hospital, they sent flowers, called often and were caring friends. The Human Resource department quickly handled the paperwork associated with "short and long term" disability. There was never any hassle with the insurance due to their expedient work.
Did you know that Cobb EMC has a special fund to help people who cannot pay their utility bill due to circumstances beyond their control? This fund paid my electric bill for two months and it was greatly appreciated and was an enormous blessing to me. This fund has assisted many, many people and is a great service to the community.
"For every action, there is a reaction" to quote. I hope the members of Cobb EMC appreciate the employees of Cobb EMC and consider the ramifications of this lawsuit and indictment on their lives as well as the Cobb EMC employees. I send kudos to all the employees of Cobb EMC for jobs well done and for being the wonderful people they are.
Sherry Butterworth
Marietta
Former Cobb EMC employee
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The people that work at Cobb EMC are dedicated and commited to utmost customer satisfaction.
Cobb EMC employees should not be associated with this situation.
The people that work at Cobb; it is not just a job; it is devotion.
Cobb Electric and Cobb EMC are stalwarts of Marietta and the community needs to stand behind the company and the employees. They are committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and will do everything to achieve that goal.
I just wanted to let the public know what the employees have told me. With the down turn of the economy I realize there are a lot of people who have lost their jobs (my family is no exception), and have difficulties paying any kind of bill. I am not bitter as one responder said. I am very blessed to have my life and the benefits that I do receive. I did not expect the responses that were blogged. I am not a "company" puppet, just a member of EMC who respects people and wanted the members to know that like with any company there are rumor mills and I wanted them to be aware of how much these people have been effected by them. I certainly am not making a stand for Mr. Brown, the officers or the board of directors.
It's difficult to take seriously being criticized for saying ugly and rude things by someone who manages to fit in quite a few ugly and rude things as well.
It's unfortunate that employees are caught in the middle of this and that some of the unpleasantness is spilling over onto them.
I do sympathize, but as EMC Hostage said, from the members' perspective EMC employees historical stance has been to blindly defend management. Now, I understand that doing otherwise might put their jobs at risk, and that's a difficult decision to make, but even a neutral stance would be preferable to making statements that clearly aren't true in defense of the co-op, like the statement that there's a "special fund" for those who can't pay their bills.
Frankly, though I don't think she thought it through to this extent, Ms. Butterworth's letter insults members by suggesting that, to spare the EMC employees from anguish they don't deserve, we should refrain from continued "negativity" about the co-op's leadership.
But we aren't the source of the negativity. We haven't been indicted on 31 counts. We haven't been forced to settle a civil suit by returning to the co-op assets that were illegally transferred to a for-profit business that became a revenue pump for a small group of insiders. We haven't unilaterally ratified dozens of amendments to the bylaws that prevent members from participating in the governance of the co-op they supposedly own.
In short, to find your true enemy, turn around.
In the case of malfeasance on the part of an organization's leadership -- especially when millions in funds are redirected for those leaders' personal enricment, there is already a hidden negative impact on employees, and that impact increases in severity when legal action is taken against the leadership, then the long process of restoration begins.
Is that the fault of those who expose the wrongdoing or recommend steps to restore fiscal responsibility? I think not.
But thanks for the being so transparent while trying to shifting the blame. We could use more transparency around here.
Still waiting for a fact-based defense...
When corruption takes over control of a company, we all suffer - customers and employees. Whether you are a good employee or not, too bad, so sad, you lose. The employees should be out picketing in front of the EMC offices demanding resignations instead of defending these crooks.
So you see, your venom is spilling over with what I'm not so convinced is not unintended consequences.
Please provide the phone number of the person at Cobb EMC who handles the free electricity fund. I am unemployed and could use the help.
As a former veteran and customer of the member owned USAA insurance, I have always been sent voter information for the board, notified of my account information to which they credit money when the company takes in more than it sends out, and they send me checks in the hundreds of dollars when my account's positive balance is too high.
USAA is the example of a well run member owned company.
You worry about outsourcing of EMC jobs IN the FUTURE. I have news for you. That was done in the past by Dwight Brown forming ProCore Solutions. The call center at the corner of Cobb Pkwy. & Bells Ferry Rd. I worked there. ANY new Cobb EMC customer service reps who were hired, were hired as ProCore employees. We did not have the same set of rules (very strict rules) and benefits as a Cobb EMC employee. I do not work there now, so I do not know how these employees were affected by the civil suit. There were more than 15 different utilities whose calls came thru that call center.
On the subject of a customer who could not pay their bill- There was NO Cobb EMC fund to help those people. When a customer called who said they could not pay their bill, I my instructions were to direct their call to the bill payment dept, so they could work out a payment plan or tell the customer to seek help from charitable organizations. I suspect your Cobb EMC bill was paid by Cobb EMC employees.
The mid to lower level Cobb EMC employees that the public deals with are are very hardworking. It is a shame that the upper levels have tainted the company. Co-op members, who own Cobb EMC, want their co-op returned to them along with all the money that has been siphoned off.
Let me add...
If a job is split in half and you do both halves, do you then deserve double the Money?
Note:
- No increase in Revenue
- No increase in Customers
- No real increase in Responsibility
- Double the pay and no outside bidding on the other half.
Makes one wonder what Mr. Head is thinking... a clear violation of Fiduciary Responsibility.
Mr. Head, what is your problem?
"Mr. Head, tear down this wall"... the one that separates the Members from EMC Management.
I get lots of Proxy statements by mail. Why not put a proxy in each bill and get this election done?
As a former EMC employee, Ms. Butterworth should know that members are supposed to own the EMC. Clearly, the characterization of a takeover unfairly demonizes those of us who simply want to see the co-op be run like a co-op. Her mention of rumors about outsourcing and reduction of pay sounds exactly like the kind of internal disinformaiton and fear-mongering I would expect EMC Management to spread so that employees will take the side of management.
Finally, Ms. Butterworth's mention of a "special fund" was not my experience at all. Not long ago, I too was unemployed due to circumstances beyond my control. Our call to Cobb EMC resulted in a rather rude person informing us in no uncertain terms that Cobb EMC "doesn't offer assistance" then giving us numbers of a couple of aid organizations to call. The call was ended with a reminder that our service WOULD be discontinued with out FULL payment of the amount due. Needless to say, we didn't feel blessed.
Finally, if employees are worried and in anguish about recent events and public perception, they should inform themselves instead of listening to rumors and automatically circling the wagons. Their current leadership does not deserve an automatic, knee-jerk defense.
EMC employees: Don't you see how ridiculously transparent it is that a rumor circulated within the company says that these evil pople are just trying to take over the EMC for themselves and are going to do bad things to you? Corporate executives have been using this strategy for centuries to unite employees against accusations made against them. Look for facts to back up the rumors. You won't find them.
Nice - too bad Brown didn't donate that 3 million loan forgiveness to this fund so it could have been advertised.
Why have none of the employees, present and former, reach out to the District Attorney during this takeover and raiding of EMC funds?