BETHEL -- Executives, board members and some shareholders of the Alaska Native corporation for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are gathering Saturday in the small tundra village of Kasigluk to decide whether to fundamentally change the organization, and who should lead it.
On the agenda at Calista Corp.'s annual meeting is whether to open up membership to children and grandchildren of shareholders. Shareholders also are deciding four board seats, all with incumbents facing challenges, and a resolution to put term limits on board members. Other resolutions propose to remove certain board members.
The biggest item up for action is a binding resolution that, if approved, would dilute the value of shares and increase overhead costs for a regional Native corporation that serves the poorest region of Alaska. It also would give younger generations a voice in the Native-run company, which like many Native corporations has its headquarters in Anchorage. It is nearly invisible in Bethel, the biggest community in its region.
The Calista team is taking chartered flights Friday to Kasigluk, where the corporation will host a potluck for the community, said spokesman Thom Leonard.
Some residents of Bethel and nearby villages may travel by boat to the meeting, which is taking place at the school and is for shareholders only. Registration begins at 10 a.m. Saturday and the meeting is set to start at 1 p.m.
Voting online or by paper proxy ended Tuesday. Shareholders can still vote in person at the meeting. Calista first tried online voting last year, and about 2.5 percent of the votes were cast that way. This year many more shareholders went that route, Leonard said.
Shareholders with the standard 100 shares will be allowed to cast 400 votes -- and can assign them all to one candidate for the board, divide them among the four seats, or vote only part of them, Leonard said.
Unassigned votes will be distributed evenly among all the candidates running, a practice put in place after the 2012 annual meeting. Some Native corporations still let the board decide where unassigned votes go, which skews elections for incumbents.
Incumbents whose seats are up this year are Mike Akerelrea, JoAnn Werning, Robert Beans and Marcie Sherer.
Among the more prominent challengers are Myron Naneng, president of the Association of Village Council Presidents, who is seeking election to the seat now held by Akerelrea. State Sen. Lyman Hoffman is trying for the at-large seat now held by Sherer. Some lesser-known candidates are pushing new ideas, including Herman Morgan of Aniak, who proposes the corporation help shareholders grow and store their own food.
Other resolutions seek to remove Akerelrea, Werning and board chairman Willie Kasayulie, whose term is not up this year.
Calista also has been guiding a separate effort to create a regional tribe. The corporation is not making any comments on that process while voting in the corporate election is underway, Leonard said.
In 41 years of annual meetings, Calista has gathered in 30 different communities.