REI COOP Election Mockery

  Who owns REI June 18, 2003, Reddit, Andy Ryan  REI workers test the retailer's co-op identity  January 30, 2025, The Huffington Post, Dave Jamieson  Local organizer wants to fix REI from the top and REI is fighting to keep her off the ballot  January 31, 2025, The Stranger, Connor Kelley WA bill would force REI CO-OP to reserve board seats for workers  February 14, 2025 by Nate Sanford  REI Co-op members reject company board picks after union campaign May 8, 2025 Cascade PBS, Excellent article by Nate Sanford  REI members block leadership picks to lead struggling co-op's future May 8, 2025 by Dave Jamieson in the Huffington Post  REI members reject handpicked candidates by the Board of Directors  May 9, 2025, Seattle Times by Alex Halverson REI member sues COOP over refusal to release election information June 17, 2025, Cascade PBS, Another excellent article by Nate Sanford  REI appoints new board directors after contentious sprin...

  Rose Marcario's candidacy is board nominated. She is a former Patagonia's CEO. How many former CEOs does this board require? She is now a partner in ReGenVentures ,  a venture fund. For me, the simple fact she is nominated by the Board calls for a withhold vote. No exception, no concession as they keep their oligarchic grip on the election selection process and and relentlessly coopt substitutes when they lose the election.

 Ted Philip is United Airlines Chairman of the Board of Directors: while it says so on the page devoted to the board still in charge  (https://www.rei.com/about-rei/board-of-directors) it is not mentioned in his presentation as a 2026 candidate .(https://reivote.com/staff-member/ted-philip/). Maybe because that looks like a very bad record as far as relations with the unions are concerned  and maybe many coop lay members think the same. Ted has been  an existing REI board member  since 2018 ( confirmed by his linkedin profile ) and that is a big no-no as he was part of the board that refused to nominate the two candidates suggested by REIunion for the 2025 election mockery and also supported the subsequent cooptation of 3 corporate board members without any democratic legitimacy and a complete disregard for the 2025 election results. Third strike, this Board also refused to share the detailed numbers results of the 2025 election and also the previous ones. All ...

  His bio (see below) as posted on the site of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council  where he is one of the representatives for Oregon. Here is an interesting interview of Chuck Sams of March 2025. Here is the link to his candidate presentation . He is the only "self-nominated" candidate. The two others have been hand picked by the Board, a Board we should not trust, despite the present CEO's plea for our "support" . As if they gave a damn about it: after losing the previous election they kept coopting 3 substitutes for 3 years as if nothing had happened :( Chuck looks like a good candidate, the 2 others are not. Update on January 5th after I sent an email to Chuck Sams, asking him for an interview to clarify his stand on union organizing, not allowing anti-union propaganda, working to change the bylaws to abolish the present bypassing of election when they are not favorable to the candidates selected by the board of directors. He declined to be intervi...

  From the official REI website  and its creepy style, ignoring the fact the Board's candidates were defeated in 2025.  The 2026 candidates, as selected by the Board are: Rose Marcario   Chuck Sams (Linkedin ) Ted Philip Detailed official presentation below (with personal comments added)