SECU "This" Board's New Election Procedures...
... a sleight of hand, a slap in the face, a kick in the...
✅ August 5, 2023
Ms. Kristina Ray, N.C. Administrator of Credit Union kristina.ray@nccud.nc.gov
cc: Ms. Rana Badwan, N.C. Attorney General's Office rbadwan@ncdoj.gov
Ref: SECU Board Elections
Dear Ms. Ray,
Thank you for your response (8/2/2023) and willingness to pursue the issues of concern over the illegal board elections being conducted by the SECU Board of Directors and the recent SECU bylaw changes. Thanks for stepping up. Your involvement is important, since the illegal elections directly impact over 2.7 million SECU members and diminish the positive reputation of all North Carolina state-chartered credit unions.
We are requesting another opportunity to meet with you and Ms. Badwan from the Attorney General's office early in the week of August 7/11 to discuss your views on how best to pursue these matters on a reasonable and amicable basis if possible. As you may know, the SECU Board candidate selection process ends on August 11, at which point mitigation of the illegalities may become impossible. We would hope that further damage to the reputation of SECU, other credit unions, and for that matter the entire State can be avoided, with your prompt assistance. We are prepared to meet on any day and at any time next week which your schedule permits.
North Carolina state-chartered credit unions have a strong history of compliance with State laws, rules & regulations, and their bylaws. Credit unions in North Carolina have always operated on a highly-principled and ethical basis, so you may find it difficult to find any precedence for what is occurring with the SECU Board elections. You will however find voluminous legal precedence and opinion on the illegality of this election on both the federal and international levels.
It is simply illegal for the SECU Board of Directors to exclude any SECU member, who is 18 years old and willing to serve, from independently petitioning to become a candidate for the SECU Board of Directors. SECU's Board election procedures defy the law, bylaws, long-held cooperative principles, and any normal sense of fairness.
State credit union regulators routinely look to their federal counterparts for guidance on unprecedented issues - a prime example of why the "federal parity" provision (§54.109.21(25) has been a part of North Carolina law for decades. Far more fundamentally as the Administrator, if the SECU Board is permitted to conduct an illegal election; then without question, the safety and soundness of the SECU will risk impairment.
The SECU Board should not be permitted to unilaterally act - with unbridled audacity - to impair and consistently ignore the best interests of the SECU membership - 2.5+ million of those members are your constituents in North Carolina.
As noted, time is of the essence, as the candidate selection process ends this Friday, August 11, 2023. We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Jim Blaine
... a "Ray" of hope for North Carolina?
