... disturbulence!
Yesterday's post about the on-going disruption in SECU Board nomination and election protocols set off a firestorm among commenters [take a look]. One of our favorite anonymice trolls really lit it up: AnonymousJuly 23, 2026 at 4:53 PM! Let's take a look at the troll's "sturm and drang":
1) "Your vote will not be counted" is a total lie." The post is about the SECU Board's continuing efforts to suppress member participation in the governance - annual meeting, member self-nomination, elections - at SECU. Easy answer: As an SECU member did you have the chance to vote for your directors last year in 2025? Was your vote counted?
2) "There is a non-incumbent on the slate this year." That was in response to the statement that the SECU nominating committee tends to always renominate incumbents for reelection. In fact, no one at SECU can recall when this was not the case. Sorry, all SECU incumbents were re-nominated again this year - there were only two.
3) "Highly qualified" is a very subjective assessment. They all can be "highly qualified", but the MOST qualified are selected". This was in response to the simple statement that the two members - Browning & Hawes - seeking member-nomination are well qualified. They are! The SECU nominating committee interviewed the two candidates and qualified both to seek member-nomination by petition!
4) OOPs!... our troll seems to have missed a beat.
5) "Your post isn't even credible unless you can make an argument why Hawes and Browning are MORE qualified than those selected." Not sure why anyone has to make that "argument". As our troll stated in #3 above: "Highly qualified" is a very subjective assessment." Is the SECU nominating committee asserting that their nominees - Stone, Dillon, Clements - are the "most qualified" folks out of 3 million members to serve on the SECU Board?
6) "You seem to think management experience highly qualifies someone for a Board. It doesn't. Governance is different than management." Would be difficult to find many folks in the world who would agree with these two statements. As a reader do you believe successful management disqualifies a member from serving on the SECU Board?
7) "These people were vetted and interviewed, and you need to acknowledge you don't see that process." Our troll has become so puffed up with self-importance that (s)he entirely misses the fact that both the nominated slate and Mr. Browning & Mr. Hawes were vetted, interviewed, and fully authorized to run by the 2026 SECU nominating committee!
😎 That's probably enough to keep the sparks flying and the "balderdash stuff" [B.S.] flowing - for now!
✅ Tired of that "balderdash stuff"? Request a nominating petition you can download and mail at: jimblainenc@gmail.com You will receive a nominating petition for each of the candidates. You will find the name of each candidate printed in the upper right text. Please complete and sign a page for each candidate.*
- Download and print off a set of petition forms from the return email (as many as you need!).
- Complete and sign a page for each candidate.*
- Mail originals to: SECU Fair Elections, 3192 Cannadys Mill Rd., Franklinton, N.C. 27525
- Please drop in the mail asap - by July 27th, if possible!
Still time to help put an end to "troll think"! But this may be your last chance...
To your point:
ReplyDelete1) We'll get to vote when elections are held and need. Understand the broader topic of suppressing participation, so don't lie, twist and exaggerate, like always.
2) And the 3rd? A non-incumbent. You're implying only non-incumbents have a chance. Well, your two had an equal shot like Dillon, but he is more qualified.
3) Eligible and qualified are not the same thing. "Highly qualified"? Says you. Your opinion doesn't become accepted fact.
4) placeholder to remind you that your annual meeting debacle is the very reason the rules have changed. No meeting will ever be hijacked again because a disgruntled CEO had his wisdom challenged. But don't worry, Hayes won't be ab The cause is the biggest critic.
5) Of course not and what a stupid question. The nominating committee is asserting that their nominees are the most qualified of those among the 3 million members that applied to become a director.
6) I'm not saying it should an auto disqualifier. I'm saying that a) management experience doesn't make you highly qualified and 2) it's a best practice not to have prior leadership on a board. There are obvious reasons for that. Disqualifying? no. will the board select prior leaders over other more qualified candidates? No? And if they did they would breach their duty.
7) you deflected the point. Yes they were vetted - and then not selected. The topic here isn't whether they were eligible to run. The topic is whether they were more qualified than those that were selected. Maybe they interviewed poorly, maybe that the Board was concerned about them harming members by bringing back one rate for all, maybe they were a deer in the headlights when asked how they would govern around AI and if they knew what stablecoin and tokenized deposits were. Point is you act like they selected the least qualified, when you have no idea how that process went. It's kinda common sense that you might not convince the committee you're highly qualified for the Board even though you have no board experience.
blah blah blah, just a bunch of hot air ... must come from between the ears ...
Delete@ 11:17AM - As a current member of SECU, I find it very telling and somewhat humorous that you continue these rants anonymously.
ReplyDeleteWe all know about Mr. Blaine's qualifications, experience and his ability to speak about credit unions. He led a very successful financial institution for decades which became the second largest CU in the country. Do us all a favor...why dont you include your name or experience and some of us might take your posts more seriously.