According to the annual report mailed out to DeKalb Telephone Cooperative members last week, former DTC employees and relatives of current employees and directors will not be able to serve as a members of the DTC Board of Directors if proposed changes to the cooperative’s bylaws are approved.DTC will hold their annual meeting at the Alexandria fairgrounds on Sept. 15.Members will have a chance to vote on the proposed amendments at the meeting.According to the report, the DTC board reccomends that "any former employee of the cooperative shall be prohibited from being nominated for or becoming a member of the board."The board’s proposal also states that no member who is a "close relative of a director or director's spouse," or is "a close relative of an employee of DTC or an employee's spouse," would be eligible to be nominated or elected to the board.In the proposal a close relative is defined as a "spouse, parent, in-laws, grandparents, sibling, child, grandchild, uncle, aunt, niece, or nephew, by blood, marriage, or adoption."The board has also proposed an amendment that could change the location of the annual meeting, which is now held every September at the fairgrounds in Alexandria.That amendment states that "the meetings shall be held at such location within the service area as the board of directors may designate before each and every meeting." Members will have the opportunity to approve or reject all three proposed amendments in their entirety as one vote at the meeting Saturday.Members can read the proposed amendments on pages 8-9 of the 2012 annual report, which they should have already received by mail.DTC CEO Craig Gates said in a prepared statement last week that the amendments, if passed, should insure that all members of the cooperative will get a fair shake in board decisions.“The first bylaw amendment will allow DTC members to attend the annual meeting throughout the DTC territory, if the board approves a new location each year,” Gates said. “The other bylaw amendments have two objectives: one, it helps DTC ensure that all members are treated fairly, and second, it ensures that undue influence from interested third parties will not gain influence over the company."