French Broad EMC EXPOSED sinking of the unsinkable ship…
French Broad Electric Membership Cooperation has violated its by-laws, and that is just the beginning. The coverup is always worse than the crime, and when you deliberately and arrogantly use your position to hide your acts from the public, at some point, the truth permeates to the surface.
This expose has several parts; I will provide much of this information over the upcoming weeks. I am in the process and have already filed with the proper State and Federal authorities to investigate these moving parts.
Part One:
French Broad Electric Membership Cooperation Violated their Bylaws:
Below are the French Broad Bylaws amended in 2021. Keep that date in mind, folks; it is relevant.
Sections 4.12- The election committee failed to fully evaluate and fulfill their duty to the Board of Directors and the members of French Broad EMC by nominating Mark Snelson for a Board of Directors seat.
Section 5.02 Qualifications- according to this bylaw, any director or Director candidate must abide by this bylaw. The selected person this committee voted for is Mark Snelson.
Leaving aside potential County Government graft and the potentially illegal use of his political influence- (Snelson was chairman of the Madison County Commissioners) used his position while not being qualified even to apply to garner a job as Director of Madison County ambulance services. Sound familiar?
Mark Snelson could never be considered because of a number 3 conflict of interest disqualification: a spouse or other close relative of any existing director, cooperative employee, or cooperative subsidiary employee.
Mark Snelson’s niece Christina Gentry works full-time for French Broad EMC and has been employed for approximately one and a half years.
Below are the members of the nominating committee and the correspondence email Jeff Lovan sent me on March 21,2023 when I tried to get answers from him:
In preparation for the 2023 Annual Meeting to be held on May 6, 2023, the Board of Directors has appointed a Nominating Committee in accordance with FBEMC bylaws.
The committee is made up of representatives from each of the co-op’s directorate districts.
The French Broad EMC nominating committee cannot discuss the names of other persons nominated but not selected for the open board seat. Only the person selected by vote is announced, which as you already know, was Mark Snelson who is a member and lives in the Shut-In community below Hot Springs.
The committee attempts to make sure the Coop is represented from all areas of the county.
They will meet on February 15, 2023 and make nominations for the directoratepositions which expire this year.
Jeff Loven
I guess the question becomes, who were the other nominations because they, at this point, can challenge the nominating committee for not abiding by the French Broad By-Laws?
Notice below that Loven uses the statement in this correspondence “In preparation for the 2023 Annual Meeting to be held on May 6, 2023, the Board of Directors has appointed a Nominating Committee in accordance with FBEMC bylaws.
Jeff Loven uses the by-laws when he needs them to manipulate an outcome but doesn’t apply them in accordance with the management of French Broad EMC.
The committee members and the districts they represent are listed:
District No. 1, Madison Co.
Nancy Allen, Bill Ricker, Clayton Willis, H.C. Wood
District No. 2, Buncombe Co.
Fred Ray, Jr.
District No. 3, Yancey Co.
Shannon Cooper
R.L. McIntosh, Jr.
Eric Vess
District No. 4, Mitchell Co.
Gary Gouge, Austin Harrell
District No. 5, Unicoi Co., TN:
Denlis Foster
Email communication between myself and Jeff Loven is as follows:
I verified Gentry’s employment in a conversation with district manager Greg Fowler on March 17, 2023.
Please see Gentry’s colorful attack on Facebook below…
Section 5.02 is another violation of qualifications for two current sitting board directors.
Chairman Joe Justice and Charles Tolley. These board members have active “Grant of the general authority of Power of attorney” registered at the Madison County Register of Deeds. Joe Justice’s POA was registered on 11 02, 2020.
Joe Justice’s POA was registered on 11 02, 2020 and Charles Tolley’s POA was registered on 11, 06. 2019. See below
These power of attorney documents have been in place for up to 4 years.
Definition of Power of Attorney and what it Means:
A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document that gives someone you choose the power to act in your place. If you ever become mentally incapacitated, you’ll need what are known as “durable” powers of attorney for medical care and finances. “Durable” simply means that the document stays in effect if you become incapacitated and unable to handle matters independently. (Ordinary or “nondurable” powers of attorney automatically end if the person who makes them loses mental capacity.) Both of these documents became active when they were registered at the Register of Deeds.
According to Section 5.02- 1b
( Directors must have the capacity to enter legal binding contracts) and 4C of this section – Directors shall maintain the physical and mental capacity to perform the essential functions of the director role with or without reasonable accommodation.
Both of these gentlemen have diminished mental capacity and need 24-hour care. A witness for the family of Joe Justice spoke to Jeff Lovan and told him that Justice was incapable of performing his duties and needed to resign.
Jeff Loven encouraged the family to keep their father as chairman until the May 2023 board meeting. Why?
Greg Fowler, the district manager, has been to Mr. Justice’s house numerous times to sign documents. Justice’s Family witnesses had to let him in because Mr. Justice and his wife were physically incapable of coming to the door.
Charles Tolley has continued to sign documents and has a very noticeably diminished mental capacity. He requires full-time assistance.
Section 5.12 Director Standard of Conduct. A Director shall discharge the Director’s duties, including duties as a Board Committee Member:
A- In good faith;
b. With the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances; and
c. In a manner the Director reasonably believes to be in the Cooperative’s best interests.
John L Chandler is the sitting secretary and board member for French Broad EMC. On October 27, 2020, John Chandler signed as a witness to Joe Justice’s Power of attorney.
This POA was notarized at French Broad EMC by Paula SEAY, another French Broad EMC employee.
Aso witnessed by the legal counsel of French Broad EMC Jamie Stokes of Leakes and Stokes, who is the same attorney who drew up this power of attorney for the Justice Family. See below:
There is no doubt that French Broad EMC was fully aware of the incapacity of these two board members, one of them being the chairman. What did they sign?
According to FBEMC general manager Jeff Loven in the email documentation above – “The Corporate bylaws were updated in December of 2021 by an independent law firm contracted by the Board of Directors.
The Smith & Christensen law firm is based in Charlotte, NC, and specializes in legal matters pertaining to Electric Cooperatives.”
Was this law firm aware that two sitting boards of directors had active Power of Attorneys in place when they voted and signed legal documents for these new bylaws?
We know Jamie Stokes of Leake and Stokes, as the general counsel for French Broad EMC, was aware.
Are these newly updated bylaws legal?
French Broad EMC took advantage of two elderly, legally incompetent board members to coerce and manipulate their decision-making for French Broad EMC’s benefit.
FBEMC and various employees managed these two board members to make decisions for new bylaws, which would preclude these two men, Joe Justice and Charles Tolley, from serving any longer on this Board.
These heinous acts are the definition of Elder Abuse.
CHAPTER 320. AGING
Act 20. Adult Protective Services Act
AN ACT IN RELATION TO ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES
§ 320 ILCS 20/2. Definitions.
(f-1) “Financial exploitation” means the use of an eligible adult’s resources by another to the disadvantage of that adult or the profit or advantage of a person other than that adult.
Exploitation: illegal or improper use of a disabled adult or his resources for another’s profit or advantage.
North Carolina law protects adults with disabilities of any age from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Abuse, neglect, and exploitation can be physical, emotional or financial. The law states that “any person having reasonable cause to believe that a disabled adult is in need of protective services shall report such information.”
Federal and NC DOJ
Not getting into the legalities of these statutes in federal and state laws. I have prepared documentation and have forwarded complaints to the NC Bar – Federal and State authorities in order to sort this out.
Enter Walter Naillon, who worked for Lewis Tree Service, which French Broad EMC contracted.
Lewis Tree Service decided to end its contract with FBEMC, and French Broad was in a bine they reached out to Walter to help.
Walter was trusted by the men he worked with and brought most workers to FBEMC’s new tree-cutting company – Southern Woods Tree Company.
Interestingly a man by the name of Brooke Lunsford owns this company; see attached LLC;
According to Mr. Naillon, he was asked to come to a meeting to negotiate an employee’s move from Lewis Tree service to SWTC; also attending this meeting – Brooke Lunsford, Cameron Gunter, Rocky Fleming, Greg Fowler, Jeff Loven and his wife, Kelly.
Why was Jeff Loven’s wife at this meeting?
Everything was going well with the new company until Cameron Gunter, who is related to Greg Fowler and also involved in many LLCs associated with Brooke Lunsford, started requiring and deducting from the checks of employees of Southern Woods Tree Company weather-related damage to company vehicles.
Walter spoke up for the employees – (texts below) because Gunter suggested these employees turn it on their homeowner’s or personal car insurance. Is this legal?
After this episode, Walter Naillon was fired by Jeff Lovan – Texts attached. Loven stated that Walter could not work for French Broad EMC because of Nepotism.
However, according to FBEMC bylaws, Lovan’s nominating committee pick for a new board member Mark Snelson has the same issue with his niece and should never have been considered.
But there is more concerning Walter Naillon; Walter Naillon received almost three times the number of names required in a petition.
(This maneuver is advertised in the February electrifier below). Yet, Naillon received a letter from Jamie Stokes (legal counsel for French Broad EMC- below) informing him his petition and application could not be considered for the upcoming election.
French Broad EMC has violated its bylaws to manipulate and control the vote of its nominating committee.
French Broad EMC has potentially and illegally kept the shareholders out of the process to influence and perpetuate the dirty handling of back-door politics to profit themselves.
Jamie Stokes, Legal Counsel for French Broad EMC, violated her fiduciary duty to her client (family of Joe Justice) and her clients.
(members of French broad EMC) by knowingly allowing her Power of Attorney client to be abused and manipulated by French Broad EMC.
The next chapter of this story will be about applying for Federal Grant Money and the potential use of LLCs to manipulate the bid process.
Below an excerpt
In July 2020, The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $3.2 million ReConnect Pilot Program award through the CARES Act in North Carolina. French Broad Electric Membership Corporation received a grant of $3,231,412 to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 4,056 people, 189 farms, 64 businesses, and two fire stations to high-speed Broadband Internet in southwest Madison County in western North Carolina.
According to sources involved in implementing this Broadband grant program, French Broad EMC should have publically advertised for bidding on this Fiber Optic installation. According to the source, they did not, and three companies bid on this contract.
- Pimlico
- CVO
- Fiber Optic Solutions or FOSLLC
All three of these companies have a common denominator of ownership Brooke Lunsford. Notice all the players…
Many of you will be getting your Proxys in the mail from French Broad EMC this weekend hang on to them.
Writing this story has been with deep regret because I know many good people who work at French Broad EMC.
The disappointment of learning that some who I thought were good individuals and then learning the opposite has been deeply concerning to me.
I know that many FBEMC employees are frightened that the Iron Fist that runs them may come after them in retaliation.
I tell you from the bottom of my heart, and from my own experiences taking on the establishment, sitting back, and turning a blind eye is not the righteous way forward.
When good men do nothing, they are no longer good – CH