Too much, too little, too late...???
To: Ms Kristina Ray and the Members of the North Carolina Credit Union Commission
October 7, 2023
Dear Ms. Ray,
Thank you for the email notice
of the Special Commission meeting scheduled for Monday, October 9, 2023
at 1:00 p.m. (dial in # (877)-402-9753, access code - 6601929.)
Although
the details of the agenda are sparse [see Oct 6 post here], it would appear that the meeting
is a follow-up to our appearance before the Commission on September 29,
2023. If so, thank you. Hate to belabor the point, but ours was not a
concern raised by "a member of the public ''. If you need 5,000 or so other "members of the public " to assure you of that fact; we will be happy to get that done for you.
We
would like to clarify the two questions which we hope will be answered
at this Special Commission Meeting. A precise response should be
un-difficult for the N.C. Attorney General's Office, as your counsel.
Q: 1)
Is the N.C. Credit Union Division required by North Carolina law to
monitor and enforce compliance by state-chartered credit unions with
their bylaws? (We believe the answer is obviously "yes". Why would the NCCUD be required by North Carolina law to approve all bylaw amendments, if the NCCUD was not expected to enforce compliance with those bylaws?)
Q: 2) May a N.C. state-chartered credit union adopt rules, policies and procedures which effectively amend its bylaws without approval by the NCCUD? (Again, we believe the answer is obviously "no''. North Carolina law requires that the Credit Union Division approve all bylaw amendments by a credit union.)
If the N.C. Attorney General's Office agrees with those two simple observations, then the following issues arise:
1).
SECU on 4-11-2023 adopted new "Election Policies and Procedures" which
established new requirements for an SECU member to be eligible to seek
office as a director in violation of the SECU bylaws. The
SECU Board subsequently used these policies and procedures to refuse an
eligible, qualified member from seeking to self-nominate for director. These
new "Election Policies and Procedures" were adopted by the SECU Board
without prior approval of the N.C. Credit Union Division.
2)
Under cover of the bylaw amendments approved by the Credit Union Division
on 6-30-2023 (and implemented by SECU on the very same date), the SECU
Board adopted new rules and a new agenda on 7-25-2023 for the 2023 SECU
Annual Membership Meeting. The standard rules of order and required
agenda for the SECU Annual meeting had been specifically stated and
embedded in the SECU bylaws (prior to 7-25-2023) for 85 years. The "new
agenda" no longer permits SECU member participation in the meeting
through "old business" and "new business" - standard agenda items for credit unions. The new
rules adopted - without any input from the SECU membership - also prohibit the membership from making any "substantive" motions at the meeting. These
changes in the material rights of 2.7 million SECU members were made by
eleven people - the SECU Board - again without any prior communication
with the SECU membership - and without the approval of the North Carolina Credit Union Division.
Hope this is a clearer, more precise statement of what we - and all 2.7 million SECU members - hope the North Carolina Credit Union Commission will address at your Monday, October 9, 2023 meeting.
Thank you.
Jean and Jim Blaine
... guess they'll make a splash one way or another! 