Valley Electric Association Inc. hosts Candidate’s Night

Valley Electric Association Inc. member-owners looking to learn more about candidates vying for Valley Electric Association’s board seats up for election in the spring can attend an event at the co-op’s conference center.

Valley is holding its Candidate’s Night event on Wednesday, where eight people vying for the co-op’s District 6 (north Pahrump) board seat, up for election in the spring, are scheduled to be present. Terrie D’Antonio, District 5 candidate for Valley, is the only person listed as a candidate for District 5 on the co-op’s website.

The doors open at 5 p.m. at the conference center at 800 E. Highway 372.

Valley’s spring election will include District 5 and 6, where each of the candidates is vying for a three-year term.

The District 5 seat is currently held by D’Antonio.

D’Antonio was previously named as interim CEO after the departure of former Interim CEO Dick Peck, who left at the end of October. She kept her District 5 board seat during her time as interim CEO.

D’Antonio replaced former Valley Board President Ken Derschan, who resigned citing personal reasons in May 2019. D’Antonio was appointed to the role by Valley’s board later in 2019.

The District 5 candidate’s time as interim CEO ended with the arrival of Mark A. Stallons, the current CEO of Valley.

The District 6 seat is currently held by Roni Barber. Barber was appointed to the seat by Valley’s board at the end of 2019 to replace former District 6 director Dave Dawson. Dawson announced his retirement in the fall of 2019.

Barber is vying to keep the seat another three years. She came to Pahrump in March 2018 after retiring as a labor representative for the Service Employees International Union in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Barber is up against seven other candidates:

■ Francis L. Bonesteel is a former member of the VEA Ambassador Program, serving on all nine of its committees and was elected Executive Committee secretary and chairman, according to his candidate profile on Valley Electric’s website. Bonesteel has over three decades of government experience at the New York State Department of Transportation. Bonesteel also has served on other boards, including as vice-chairman and chairman of the Nevada Site Specific Advisory Board, which is responsible for advising the U.S. Department of Energy on matters concerning the Nevada National Security Site.

■ Gregory A. Dann, according to his candidate profile on Valley’s website, has spent most of his career as a supervisor. Dann moved to Nye County in his 20s and has held positions at the Nevada National Security Site (then the Nevada Test Site), where he worked as an apprentice pipe fitter. “I eventually graduated from by apprenticeship (from Local 525 in Las Vegas) with the top apprentice award,” the profile states. Dann moved into power generation construction later in his career. His latest job was at the Ivanpah Solar Power Plant in Primm, and he also spent some time on the Yucca Mountain Repository Project. He is now retired. Since retirement, he was chosen to participate in the Basin 162 Groundwater Management Plan committee and was appointed to the Nye County Water District Governing Board.

■ Louis J. DeCanio is a former owner of two restaurant/bar businesses in Chicago and is a graduate of Washburn Trade School and Kennedy Electronics School “and became an “A” Card journeyman electrician in Local #134 IBEW Chicago, IL,” according to DeCanio’s candidate biography on Valley’s website. The former Army Military Police veteran has been a Pahrump resident since 2003.

■ Paul M. Healey is the owner and managing partner of Paul M. Healey &Sons CPAs, according to his candidate profile on Valley’s website. Healey has worked as a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) for nearly four decades. Healey’s practice has offices in Pahrump and Las Vegas, and he has lived in Pahrump for the last 14 years. Healey spent “15 years in private industry serving most notably as a Chief Financial Officer for a private corporation with assets in excess of $500 million, achieving this position at the age of 30,” his profile states. “This private corporation engaged in manufacturing, telecommunications and real estate predominantly.”

■ Ann Herget was self-employed as an accountant/financial manager for 22 years, according to her profile on Valley’s website. She was elected to the town council in Hampstead, Maryland. In her past, she “purchased, renovated and rented or sold over 50 residences in Maryland and Nevada. In her profile, Herget also states that she’s served on the board of directors for “numerous social and civic organizations.”

■ Kathie McKenna has decades of senior level management experience in rural telecommunications, broadband and business operations, according to her candidate profile. She is the former chief operating officer of broadband for Valley Electric Association and currently serves as the executive director for Pioneer Territory CASA and Nevada Outreach Training Organization. McKenna also serves as a board member for the Desert Trails Property Owners Association (DTPOA). She has a Bachelor of Science in management from William Woods University. McKenna is active in the community and supports multiple nonprofits, social causes and events, including CASA, Nevada Outreach and others, according to her profile.

■ James Rowan has been a Pahrump resident for two and a half years and has had a long career in the electric power industry. Rowan started his electric utility career with Pacific Power and Light in 1972. He worked as a coal equipment operator, ground man, journeyman lineman and in other roles during his eight years at Pacific Power. Rowan’s last position was as a substation construction technician at Xcel Energy. He retired from the industry in 2016. Rowan has been an active volunteer for the Nye County Sheriff’s Auxiliary unit and been a church board treasurer for Trinity Assembly of God church and a co-leader with his wife for a children’s program that supports Celebrate Recovery, according to his profile. Rowan also has served on other church boards and volunteered for a national boys program similar to the Boy Scouts. Rowan is also a Vietnam veteran, serving in the Air Force between 1967-71.

For more on Valley’s candidates, head to vea.coop/2020candidates

Contact Interim Editor Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com