As a cooperative, Paul Bunyan Communications is governed by a seven-person member-elected Board of Directors. In 2026, there are two Board of Directors positions up for election representing Districts 3 and 8.
Article III, Section 3 of your Cooperative’s Bylaws requires any member interested in serving as a Director to submit a candidate packet to the Cooperative headquarters by the application deadline date. This enables the Cooperative to properly verify the eligibility of all candidates to serve as a member of the Board if elected.
District 3
The current director for District 3 is Tracy Mistic-Schaar and she was the only applicant. As a result, her uncontested director re-election to the board for District 3 will be ratified by the members at the annual meeting.
District 8; In-person Caucus
The current director for District 8 is Board Vice-President Jim Sutton and he did not apply for re-election. Two cooperative members from District 8 applied for the position, Carrie Scott and Becky Haskell. As a result, a District 8 in-person Caucus will be held. All members within District 8 will be notified of the Caucus meeting by mail.
The purpose of the in-person Caucus is to select two pre-qualified candidates to seek election to be the district’s representative on the Paul Bunyan Communications Board of Directors to serve a five-year term through 2031. The Caucus votes will be tallied and listed on the general membership ballot.
The names of two candidates are listed on the ballot to be voted on by the general membership of the Cooperative. Votes are tallied and then announced at the Annual Meeting, scheduled for May 20, 2026. The candidate with the greatest number of votes from the general membership is elected as the Director for District 8.