... starting with freedom of speech.
As you noted in the "Brass Tacks" post [link]; over the last two years, the SECU Board first restricted and has now prohibited SECU members from speaking or pre-submitting resolutions at the Annual Meeting. How has this happened?
😎 Several commenters asked the appropriate question: "Why does the SECU Board fear the members?"
✅ The SECU Board took these core membership rights away by submitting a series of bylaw changes to the NC Credit Union Division (the State CU regulator) in mid-2023. In part, the SECU Board requested the following amendment to: "... (iii) authorize the Board to establish upon notice to the membership policies and procedures governing the order of business, format and conduct of the annual meeting."
The SECU Board passed the proposed bylaw amendments at its evening meeting on Tuesday, 6/27/2023 and submitted them to the NC Credit Union Division for approval on Wednesday, 6/28/2023.
The proposed SECU bylaw amendments were approved by the Administrator of NC Credit Unions on 6/30/2023, two days later - an unheard of regulatory turn-around for non-standard bylaw proposals. After approving the bylaw amendments on 6/30/2023, the Administrator of Credit Unions then retired at the end of the day .
Without the "middle of the night" by law approvals, the SECU Board would not have been able to restrict and then prohibit member free speech at the Annual Meeting - reversing binding, fundamental member rights which had been in place since 1937.
😎 Why is the SECU Board purposefully stripping these basic rights from the SECU membership? "Why does the SECU Board fear the members?"
Down to brass tacks... with more to come!
