SECU has much greater problems which need your attention. Why waste members' time with this? Because when your leader speaks, you should take her seriously.
We're working off Ms. Brady's dismissive response [BNC article link] to a member inquiry concerning Ms. Brady's "I'll-dare-you-and-the-membership-to-sweep-out-the-incumbents-at-the-Annual-Meeting"-type remarks! The member's reaction to Ms. Brady was: "What a farce!", which seemed accurate enough and sufficient. But, since Ms. Brady started it, guess we should go ahead and finish it up.
The first response post dealt with my "refusal" to meet with the SECU Board [link to 10/16 post], the second with my "refusal" to meet with Ms. Brady [link to 10/17 post]. That appears to leave 3 more issues to address: 1) posting to this blog, 2) new Board election rules at SECU, and 3) Duck, N.C. I did have a fourth topic - "foot-in-mouth disease" - but I'll leave that one to your imagination. So, here goes:
1) Posting to this blog - Yes, I do screen comments on this blog. But, I believe I have posted all comments from a validated, actual person/email . ✅ I have never received a comment to post from "Leigh Brady"! I would encourage Ms. Brady to provide members with the date, time, and copy of the comment she submitted - ✅ it's easy enough to verify and confirm. I will be happy to post it! Now, if Ms. Brady was trying to sneak in a comment as an "anonymouse"; well, that's a different story! And, as an "anonymouse" how was I suppose to know it was her? Look forward to hearing from her...2) New Board Election Procedures - Hope there is no dispute that the SECU Board adopted new procedures on 4/11/2023 [link to SECU website]. ✅ And, yes the 500 signature requirement to run was adopted @2014 while I was still at SECU. ✅ But, that was not the problem with the new election procedures. What "this Board" did was a) add a requirement that a member seeking to self-nominate must apply first to the Nominating Committee - or else the member could not run! ✅ This is simply a violation of the bylaws. And, b) this Board adopted an official self-nominating petition, which they wouldn't release until after the Nominating Committee announced its slate. This suppression left members only 10 days to acquire 500 signatures. In the past, members could start working on getting signatures months in advance and could not be refused the opportunity to run. That's a little complex to grasp at first, but the changes were both suppressive and illegal. ✅ Would encourage Ms. Brady to publish the election procedures prior to 4-11-2023 on the SECU website along with the current procedures, so members can compare and make their own judgment. That would be fair, wouldn't it?
3) Duck, N.C. - Here are the two "offending" posts on Duck [12/1 post] and [12/2 post]. The "ridicule" was primarily intended to draw focus to SECU's claim under proposed "H410" (CU proposed state legislation) that it wanted to move to open membership only in underserved ("financial deserts") rural areas (Duck is in a remote and rural part of N.C.) The "underserved" gambit was a fiction SECU created to cover it's expansionist plans at the time. The second post poked fun at the growing mistrust for the Board as a group after the artificially staged "Fireside Chats".
✅ Ms. Brady is correct in stating that I went to Duck once with the Board, probably @ 2015. The SECU Board historically holds 2 weekend planning retreats a year, most often in Pinehurst and Asheville. ✅ I think these are reasonable meetings - including in Duck - given that the SECU Board is uncompensated.
✅ Many CUs have difficulty controlling Board travel at member expense. During my time at SECU that was never a problem, with the Board always meeting only in N.C. and rarely traveling out-of-state for any purpose. ✅ The issues now being raised by members (including at the 2023 Annual Meeting) are about out-of-state meetings by the Board - with "Hawaii" being most frequently rumored.
✅ And, the growing suspicion among some members that the Board is pursuing efforts to be compensated, either in fact or in kind. ✅ The "Form 990" required by the IRS to be filed by N.C. credit unions shows that in 2021 one director actually had reportable compensation in the amount of $2,690 - minor yes, but illegal under State law - probably just some sort of oversight.
✅ One Advisory Board member has sent a written request to Ms. Brady for information on Board travel (including "Hawaii"). Willing to publish her response to the member and the details on all board travel on this blog, under her name.
Guess that's quite enough, don't you!
Some very good advice:
"Never wrestle with a pig; you'll both get dirty and the pig will like it."
