Friday, September 25, 2026
The SAFE/Boeing Employees' Mega-Merger: "Coming Together, A Winning Combination"?
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
The SAFE CU "Enterprise" Merger - "Beam Me Up, Boeing?"
Star Trek?
One last round on how our local WakeMed sellout [link] seems to parallel the SAFE/Boeing mega-merger murk and muck.
Here in Raleigh much of the concern about the hospital merger was over the lost of local control, local focus, and local accountability. After all, Wake Med was created by - and has been funded by - the citizens of Wake County to provide access to affordable healthcare, particularly to those of modest means.
The WakeMed Board seemed chronically concerned that the hospital wasn't "up to snuff" financially, because it was earning less than folks like its acquirer Atrium Health. Y'know, WakeMed just wasn't profitable enough and all that - despite extremely strong financials!
✅ Why isn't WakeMed "up to snuff"...
"42% OF ALL PATIENTS SEEN IN OUR EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS ARE EITHER MEDICAID OR UNINSURED PATIENT, RESULTING IN WAKEMED PROVIDING CARE OF AN ESTIMATED 70.2% OF WAKE COUNTY'S UNINSURED AND MEDICAID PATIENTS." [from their fin reports!]
✔ ... because WakeMed is fulfilling its mission!
Atrium Health, the acquirer, has put itself forward as a local North Carolina peer of WakeMed - common purpose, common vision - headquartered down in Charlotte.
In fact, Atrium is part of Advocate Health, Inc. which operates 69 hospitals with 174,000 employees, with "a combined footprint across eight states – Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina and Wisconsin – and maintain a strong organizational presence in Chicago and Milwaukee." So much for down home local!
😎 Have mentioned that Atrium was forced by the public outcry to amend the merger agreement [link transfer agreement], paying an additional $2+ billion in benefits and funding to Wake County. As you can read in the agreement, Atrium finally acknowledges who it really is:
"Atrium Health is now a part of the Advocate Health, Inc. enterprise, a nationally prominent, multi-state healthcare system (the “Enterprise”). "
✔ "Hey, beam me up Scottie"! And, lets hope "the Enterprise" can get those unprofitable billings moving up for poor folks in Wake County.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
The SAFE CU Merger: A Sacramento Sellout? The WakeMed Analogy...
The vote was 5-2 to sell out!
Wake County "let the deal go down" yesterday and soon WakeMed will be no more. The meeting ran for 5 hours [link], but in the end... the local community folks lost out. The Board Chairman Don Mial summed it up this way:
"I believe that this action will make WakeMed stronger in the face of growing demands, workforce pressures, rising costs, and the real headwinds facing healthcare today,"
That forecast of the problems with healthcare sounds pretty accurate - no argument there! Precisely the same arguments are being made across all industries to justify mergers and consolidation.
The debate, however, is not over whether the future is uncertain - it always is, always has been. The important question is whether these problems are better solved by a locally-owned, locally-controlled institution or a multi-state, growth driven conglomerate. Same applies to credit unions - the SAFE/Boeing "merger-me-me" is our poster child.
✔ Important to note that having community/political leaders step up and pan the original WakeMed proposal did make a difference. That pressure led to a $2 billion investment giveback, a capping of future rates, and a $150 million indigent care fund. $2 billion+ is still real money in North Carolina!
✔ Here's how an honest, competent public servant - State Auditor Dave Boliek - steps up for the public good [a news release issued]:
"I am committed to promoting accountability and trust in all levels of North Carolina government. The rollout of the proposed hospital takeover raises questions. The lack of transparency does not instill confidence, in fact, it calls for greater scrutiny and explanation. At this point in time, it’s highly doubtful that the average Wake County citizen is even aware of the pending takeover."
✔ Hope alarm bells are ringing loudly in Sacramento!
That the SAFE Board has also struck a poor deal on behalf of its members is self-apparent, easily documented [link]. Most folks predict that a majority of all SAFE members will not approve the SAFE Board's giveaway to Boeing of the credit union .
✅ That means that the California state regulator - DFPI - will have final approval authority on the sell out. Sacramento community/political leaders should call for a pause for further review. It will be well worth $$$ their time!
Monday, September 21, 2026
Is It SAFE To Sell Out Your Community? The WakeMed Example...
Bad for your health - both fiscal and physical?
Folks keep asking : "What does the take down of a community hospital [link] in North Carolina have to do with our rampant credit union merger mania - and the SAFE/Boeing merger-murk?"
Here, check out this interview from local WRAL-TV [link]. First point is that prices rise, competition declines after mergers. The reporter's comment on the difficulty of getting direct answers 'beyond the PR-speak and beating around the bush responses' sounds familiar; and then the interview with an unconvincing CEO seals the comparison, don't you think?
Won't go back over the controversy which has erupted with our Governor (a "D") and State Treasure (an "R") critiquing the deal and the "slip it by sneak tactics" of the WakeMed Boarsd [link]. But you should know that the outcry has prompted a 90-day pause in the vote and major improvements "in the deal", amounting to over $2.2 billion in greater committed financial benefits to Wake County and its' citizens. But in the meantime, WakeMed still has lost its chief operating officer and chief physician exec, who have jumped ship.
Much like the SAFE/Boeing merger, it was very clear from the start that the WakeMed merger was a bad deal for the owners. Shinning a little media light and political heat on the merger-murk has appeared to stampede several cockroach-crazy assumptions put forth in the original proposal.
SAFE members and Sacramento would certainly benefit from a pause, much greater discussion, and a far better deal. Someone needs to turn on the lights and turn up the heat in California!
✔ The vote on WakeMed is scheduled for 2:00 pom today! Stay tuned.
Saturday, September 19, 2026
SECU: Those Questionable "No Amendment Amendments"...
"Ask, and it shall be given you..." Hope so!
While we're on the subject of amendments and democratic rights ['The First Amendment" - link], lets square up on those mysterious SECU bylaw amendments approved by the SECU Board last September.
Those amendments allegedly further restrict SECU member rights to participate in the CU; and, virtually eliminate the possibility of independent, member-nominated candidates seeking a seat on the SECU Board.
✅ As you know when CEO Leigh Brady was asked directly about those elusive bylaw amendments at the 2025 Annual Meeting [here take a look - link], she chose to equivocate. Not exactly a great trust-building tactic for any leader.
As required, that amendment question has been resubmitted in advance for the 2026 Annual Membership Meeting, as follows:
✔ "Please publish the wording of the bylaw amendments approved by the SECU Board in September, 2025; explain their purpose and intent; and state if the amendments have been modified or rescinded? Thank you."
Several blog readers have forwarded questions which they wanted asked. Sorry, can't do it, beacuse the SECU Board has limited each member to one question only!
👉 If you wish to submit a question to be answered by Ms. Brady go to this [link] and register to attend the Annual meeting.** At the end of the registration, you are given the opportunity to ask your one question. Last year 91 questions were submitted.
✅ While you're at it, please consider casting your votes for Julian Hawes and Barry Browning. Your ballot is still valid if you vote only for the 2 member-nominated candidates. [link]
** Note: You are not required to attend the meeting to ask the question.
Friday, September 18, 2026
SECU Elections: First Things First!
North Carolina is fortunate to have an active - if struggling mightily! - pool of local newspapers, periodicals, and independent journalists. It's no "news" to anyone that what's true?, what's false?, what's fact?, what's fiction? is increasingly hard to determine. But, the truth still matters, doesn't it?
Certainly, some of our original leaders thought it mattered, as did the rights of free speech, assembly, petition, resolutions, that democratic-type stuff:
✓ 1st Amendment of the U.S Constitution
"Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.'
Our leaders and institutions today make that search for truth more and more difficult. Some believe that "a glass of half-truths" is a glass half full, when in fact it is completely empty. Not sure why "they" don't trust "us"! Does the truth really hurt that much?
Here are the responses [9/17/2026]:
https://businessnc.com/
✅ Please consider casting your votes for Julian Hawes and Barry Browning. Your ballot is still valid if you vote only for the 2 member-nominated candidates.
Vote by mail or online. Here's where to find complete voting info [link].
Thursday, September 17, 2026
noose news tightens!
✅ Beginning with the 2025 SECU Annual Membership Meeting, SECU members for the first time were prohibited from commenting or asking questions from the floor. In other words, SECU members were no longer allowed to speak at their membership meeting. Questions or concerns from members could be submitted in writing, in advance to the credit union.
According to SECU, the credit union received 91 questions from 1,243 members attending the 2025 meeting. SECU took the liberty to consolidate the questions. Board Chair Mona Moon assured members that all questions would be subsequently posted on the credit union website. CEO Leigh Brady spent well over an hour reading out the questions and providing answers.
✅ In reviewing the agenda for the upcoming 2026 meeting, encountered the following:
✔"Up to 30 minutes will be set aside during the meeting for a question-and-answer session. Members may submit one question at the time of registration." Up to 30 minutes " for 3+ million SECU members, once a year?
How participation in your Annual SECU Membership Meeting has changed:
Recent Year Member May Speak Member Resolutions
2022 Fully Permitted Fully Permitted
2023 Restricted Restricted
2024 Prohibited Restricted
2025 Prohibited Prohibited
😎 Time for new category? "Member Questions": 2026 - Restricted to 30 minutes?
✅ Please consider casting your votes for Julian Hawes and Barry Browning. Your ballot is still valid if you vote only for the 2 member-nominated candidates.
Vote by mail or online. Here's where to find complete voting info [link].
What do you have to say about that? Well, you can't and now...don't ask!
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
SECU Board Elections: Just Vote For Two - Julian Hawes And Barry Browning!
Two highly qualified, long-time SECU members, Julian Hawes and Barry Browning, are on the 2026 ballot having been member-nominated by petition. Both were qualified as candidates by the SECU nominating committee, but were not selected. Incumbents as usual were preferred.
Hawes and Browning are
seeking election because the SECU Board has repeatedly over the last 3 years acted to suppress SECU member participation in their credit union.
SECU members are losing their democratic rights in their credit union.
✔ Look at how participation in your Annual SECU Membership Meeting has changed:
What have you got to lose... well, perhaps everything!Monday, September 14, 2026
SECU Board Election - Voting Now Underway...
✅ There are 5 candidates running for 3 seats. This year 4 of the candidates were originally member-nominated by petition. It has been very difficult breaking the standard, self-reannointing cycle of incumbents only.
😎 But progress is being made! Democracy works better when the membership has a choice.
✔ How to vote:
Absentee voting
Available September 9 – October 6, eligible members can cast your vote online through a secure member portal linked from our SECU website or you can vote via a mailed absentee paper ballot. Instructions are provided in the Notice of Annual Meeting. Be sure to read the instructions carefully to ensure paper ballots are received on time.
In-person voting
If you do not participate in absentee voting, you may vote in person during the Annual Meeting on October 13.
✅ Here's where to find complete info on the election [link].
You didn't have a chance to vote last year... don't waste your right to vote.
Sunday, September 13, 2026
A Safe Merger Of Cultures?
✅ From SAFE member and former CU CEO Jeanine [link]: "Mergers often lead to staff reductions, cost-cutting, and reviews of under-performing locations. Although BECU has committed to retaining SAFE CU employees for 18 months, layoffs and branch closures may follow."
✅ From the merger notice [link]: "Upon completion of the combination, all SAFE employees will become BECU employees with access to expanded career opportunities as part of the Continuing Credit Union." "To support continuity and to align with BECU’s pay-for-performance philosophy – which will be the prevailing standard going forward ..." [SAFE employees may expect to encounter a few 'surprises"!]
✅ BECU CEO Bev Anderson Past Experience - 08/24/2017 [link]: "Anderson joined Wells Fargo in 2012 to lead Consumer Financial Services. Today Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) announced that Beverly Anderson has been selected as head of Cards & Retail Services (CRS), part of Wells Fargo’s Payments, Virtual Solutions, and Innovation (PVSI) business. Anderson has served as the interim leader for CRS since March of this year, and prior to that, led Wells Fargo Consumer Financial Services (CFS), the bank’s consumer credit card business. The Cards & Retail Services business includes CFS, Retail Services, and Collections & Servicing."
WELLS FARGO'S "INCENTIVE" COMPENSATION PLAN [link]:
That voracious "pay-for-performance philosophy" Stumpf'ed Congress!
Over 2 million fraudulent accounts... guess the Wells Fargo folks heard that as "inventive compensation" rather than incentive compensation from their leadership?
Saturday, September 12, 2026
SAFE Credit Union's Transition From Significant Entity, Prominent Player...
✅ Making the rounds in several communities on Reddit:
"The management at SAFE has consistently emphasized the strength and strong growth of our credit union in the region. After carefully reviewing the financial and statistical data, I concur with their assessment. However, the decision to merge, raises questions. 1. If our credit union is so strong, why are they merging? Especially with a credit union headquartered in Washington State! 2. BECU's technology is the same as SAFE's, so what specific improvements is management speaking about? 3. SAFE has contactless debit cards, BECU does not. So how is this merger going to improve the technology for members?
For over 80 years, SAFE CU has been a locally owned institution, proudly standing as a prominent player in our community. Following the merger, we will transition from being a significant entity in a smaller pond to a smaller entity in a larger BECU pond.
Our credit union has played a vital role in assisting many of us in purchasing homes, opening our first checking accounts, and supporting the Sacramento community. It is crucial to consider the impact on future generations if this legacy is not preserved.
Having examined the merger agreement and drawn from my experience as a former Credit Union CEO involved in various mergers, it is evident that the typical reasons for merging, such as financial challenges or inadequate competitiveness, do not apply to SAFE CU.
Mergers often lead to staff reductions, cost-cutting, and reviews of underperforming locations. Although BECU has committed to retaining SAFE CU employees for 18 months, layoffs and branch closures may follow. SAFE CU’s substantial assets ($4.4 billion) and equity ($420 million) will transfer to BECU. Even if current members close their accounts after the merger, the $420 million in member equity will remain with BECU.
If you have not yet voted, I encourage you to consider the implications of what we stand to lose: local ownership of a robust credit union, a local headquarters and management, and representation in the Sacramento community. Preserving these aspects is essential. SAFE CU Management has not scheduled a member meeting until October 27th, the last day to vote. This concerns me, and it should concern you. Why don’t they want to hear from the members?
If you are a member-owner of SAFE Credit Union, please vote as I will, against this proposed merger! And do ask others to do so as well!
Thank you for your attention."
Jeanine
Thursday, September 10, 2026
The SAFE Board Sells Out Sacramento (SOS!)... And SAFE Members?
Mind if we make off with your money?
✅ According to the merger rules of the National Credit Union Administration: "The net worth of a credit union belongs to its members. Payments to insiders, especially in the context of a voluntary merger where a credit union could choose to liquidate and distribute its net worth among its members, are distributions of the credit union's net worth.”
✔ I GOT MINE! The SAFE CEO and senior staff will pocket $14.56 million when this deal closes. Two SAFE Board will haul in $750,000 in board fees ($125,000 for 3 years each!)
Although the CEO and senior leadership team have decided to rake off @$15 million of your net worth ...
✔ THE GOOD NEWS: $400+ MILLION IN CASH IS STILL UP FOR GRABS!! WANT YOUR SHARE?
The 250,000 SAFE members could collect up to $1,600 in cash each (@ $6,400 for a family of 4!). The SAFE Board and staff should look after SAFE members, instead of just themselves! NCUA explicitly emphasizes the ownership rights of SAFE members to that $400+ million:
“... members' interest in the transaction extend beyond practical matters of access and service, because the merging federally-insured credit union's [SAFE's!] net worth belongs to the members."
The SAFE Board has the option of distributing that $400+ million to SAFE members - leaving the money with you in Sacramento where it belongs - and proceeding with the merger, if they still desire to do so.
BECU would still make out like a bandit [link], acquiring $4 billion of SAFE's assets, branches and deposits all for free! BECU would become a $34 billion CU and remain very highly capitalized at @11% - well above the 7% well-capitalized, regulatory minimum required by NCUA.
😎 Those "People Helping People" folks at BECU have no legitimate reason to pick your pocket!
✅ It's your money, why not keep it in your pocket and in your community?
Selling out SAFE, Selling out Sacramento... SOS, SOS!
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
The SAFE Merger: Members "Taken For A Ride"?
The SAFE and BECU mega-merger mismatch... ... as logical as a fish on a bicycle!
✅ Somethings just don't mix! Oil and water, a cat in a dog park, fire and ice, chewing gum and potato chips, you and your ex! Sacramento and Tukwila!
... the forecast for Culture Clash looks assured! READ IT HERE 👉 [CUDaily-link]
California Washington State
State Animal: Grizzly Bear Marmot Squirrel
Better rates : SAFE Not Here!
State Insect: Butterfly Dragonfly
Lower costs: SAFE Don't Ask!
State Sport: Surfing Pickle Ball
State Dance: West Coast Swing Square Dance
Local Ownership: SAFE Unh-uh!
State Weather: Sunshine Rain
✔ Return of the $400+ million in equity to its rightful owners - current, local SAFE members? ["No Way, Jose!"]
Monday, September 7, 2026
The SAFE Merger: If It Came With A $125k Per Year Job, Would It Influence Your Vote? C'mon, Let's Be Honest... Part II
✅ In most states, voluntary service by credit union members on their Board of Directors is a core statutory and cooperative hallmark of credit unions. California is no exception!
Here's the law in California: Financial Code section 14410 (a)(1): "A member of the board of directors, supervisory committee, audit committee, or credit committee shall not receive compensation for the member's services as a member of the board of directors, supervisory committee, audit committee, or credit committee..."
✔ SAFE Directors are not compensated. BECU directors are paid to the tune of $125,000 per year! 'Course the BECU Board is required to meet four times a year, so that's only $31,250 per meeting... probably not even $10,000 an hour!
✅ Of the @180,000 households in Sacramento [link], 66.8% of all those Sacramento households earn less than $125,000 on an annual basis. Not unreasonable to say that two-thirds of SAFE working families earn less in a year, than those SAFE directors "self-advancing" to the BECU Board will collect.
😎 Of course, the SAFE Board did not disclose in the member notice the names of the SAFE directors who will receive that little $125,000 "perk" (for a minimum of 3 years!) It's a secret, buried in that 2025 "definitive agreement" no one is allowed to see. "People Helping People", or "People Helping Themselves"?
✔ Would a "payout perk" of a part-time job paying $125,000 per year affect your vote? Be honest.
Sunday, September 6, 2026
The SAFE Merger: Would Losing $15 Million Influence Your Vote? C'mon Let's Be Honest...
The discussion of the proposed acquisition of SAFE Credit Union by Boeing Employees' has heated up! The takeover has gained notoriety not because it is unique, but because it may foreshadow the demise of credit unions as cooperative financial alternatives. The irreversible paradigm shift, the canary in the cooperative coal mine.
"The new credit union will bring more value and benefits to our members and the communities we serve, with enhanced technology, increased community support, and more convenient banking services for members through all stages of their financial journeys."
✔ Let's check that statement out: [link here for broader 'Scorecard"]
1] Better rates YES ◻ NO ❎
2] Lower operating costs YES ◻ NO ❎
3] Enhanced technology YES ◻ NO ❎
4] More branches/ATMs YES ◻ NO ❎
5] Retain local ownership/control YES ◻ NO ❎
6] Assured increase in community support YES ◻ NO ❎
7] In-state California regulation YES ◻ NO ❎
8] Return of capital to SAFE members YES ◻ NO ❎
9] Member dialogue prior to agreement YES ◻ NO ❎
10] Will strengthen the Sacramento area YES ◻ NO ❎
✔ Without merging, every SAFE member can join BECU for free! But then, Ms. Nabhani and friends couldn't collect those mega-$$$ millions in merger payouts!
Saturday, September 5, 2026
The SAFE CU Mega Million $$$ Gold Rush: Claim Jumping Execs?
"On Aug. 26, the National Credit Union Association (NCUA), the federal agency that insures member deposits at credit unions, posted on its website its authorization for the SAFE Credit Union acquisition by Boeing Employees Credit Union.
Included in this online posting, the NCUA reported the following information regarding executive compensation for the top five leadership posts at SAFE:
✔ The total amount that these five individuals will receive when this deal closes is $14.56 million. The following is a breakdown of this sum:
Chief Executive Officer Faye Nabhani to be paid $4.353 million.
Chief Operating Officer Tiffani Vargas to be paid $3.54 million.
Chief Financial Officer Alexis Fitzpatrick to be paid $2.768 million.
Chief Technology Officer Michael McCarthy to be paid $2.088 million.
Chief Human Resources Officer Colleen Nerius to be paid $1.797 million.
✔ This is an astonishing payout coming from a not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by its members!
In addition to the money being paid to the top SAFE five executives, all costs of this transaction will be borne by SAFE Credit Union and paid out of the current member equity.
✔And when the deal closes, all $419,000,000 of member-owner money will be handed over to Boeing Employees Credit Union.
Based upon information submitted by SAFE, the NCUA reported total SAFE assets of $4.417 billion, including $3.937 billion in member deposits. SAFE also reported current member equity totaling $419 million. This is money that belongs to all SAFE members. With a current membership base of more than 245,000, each individual member owns and is entitled to, a payout of approximately $1700 per person.
✔ It is imperative that members are compensated for what is rightfully theirs.
And you can be certain that SAFE members are in the best position to determine for themselves how to use the $1700 per person payout to which they are entitled.
According to the NCUA, SAFE has a low income designation (LID). This means that more than 50 percent of members have family incomes that are 80 percent or less than the medium income for our region. An NCUA LID designation allows access to funding that expands service to lower income members such as credit builder loans, payday alternative short-term loans, affordable home loans, hardship fee waivers, and loan deferral programs. Although not the most profitable products, these serve an important mission. Boeing Employees Credit Union does not have this designation.
✔ However the most important fact is that the SAFE board intends to do an end run around the statutory requirement that a majority of members must approve the merger by asking for an exception. This is the actual ballot wording:
“(T)his is to advise you that the Board of Directors will make an application under California Financial Code Section 15201(b) for approval of the merger in the event that a majority of all members of SAFE do not vote to approve the merger, in person at the meeting, or by mail-in or online ballot.”
Chip Filson, a nationally known credit union expert and opinion writer has stated: “SAFE’s leadership does not want to even try to get the majority of members to vote because that would require a PR campaign and open dialogue. That would give members and the community a chance to learn the full facts of what this sellout will cost them.” Filson adds, “the pretense… of instant democracy by a board that had no contested elections in recent memory just compounds this financial farce.”
I am urging the leaders of our community to take a stance in opposition to this transaction. If SAFE Credit Union ceases to exist, the Sacramento region will face severe adverse economic consequences.
✔ Scott J. Rose has been a member of SAFE Credit Union since 2002."
Senior execs "pandering for gold" in Sacramento?
Friday, September 4, 2026
The Lack Of Transparency By Boards... Some Might Call It Lying! Why The Trend?
The difference between a real choice and a false choice is often transparency. If we are asked to vote, or are required to make a critical choice, "the facts of the matter" matter.
If we aren't given accurate, nor sufficient information, the chance of choosing wrongly is greatly magnified. Or, was creating a false perception the real goal all along?
With the SAFE merger vote, the members weren't told they all could join BECU for free - without giving away their thriving, locally-owned, locally-controlled CU. Wouldn't you have thought that was important information? No payouts, no payoffs, no merger costs required - all available for free! What's the choice here again?
With our local WakeMed non-profit hospital merger, the lack of transparency closely mirrors the "imaginary perks campaign" pursued by the SAFE Board. A widely touted promise of $2 billion in future investments by the acquirer, Atrium Health, is proving to be a fiction. The WakeMed CEO has now publicly admitted that most - if not all - of that $2 billion "perk" will be funded by WakeMed itself, not Atrium. Lying or just a $2 billion oversight?
With SECU, our CEO Leigh Brady has yet to admit and refuses to explain why the SECU Board has voted to further restrict the self-nomination rights of SECU members [link]. Why the lack of transparency? Why not simply explain the reasons the Board voted for these bylaw amendments? What is there to hide - from the SECU membership? Is the truth that threatening?
✔ All three are tax-exempt, non-profits created to fill a void in their local communities. Why can't they handle success, while remaining true to purpose ... and honest with the people who made that success possible?
Getting too big for their fiduciary breeches?
Thursday, September 3, 2026
The Illusion Of Choice At Credit Unions... And Elsewhere.
Was there a better choice? What if the answer is "Yes"?
Choice and false choice are two different and opposing ideas. Choice involves weighing the pros and cons of several options based on personal goals, values, or circumstances. A false choice is a deceptive tactic, which creates an illusion of choice, while restricting or misrepresenting available alternatives - or worse, implying there is only one choice!
Been trying to point out - probably unsuccessfully - that we live in a world, which increasing offers up to each of us, an illusion of choices, when in fact there are actually few... and often none. Perhaps this is acceptable in our "buyer beware", "anything goes" economy, with few prudential or consumer safeguards. The illusion of choice - or a false choice - seems, however, out of place in the cooperative, non-profit realm. Isn't that against the basic principles and core values of these institutions?
So, that's why we've been looking at WakeMed, SAFE Credit Union, and SECU as examples. With WakeMed clearly there is a better deal to be made for the citizens of Wake County. Little dispute there. Public outcry by citizens and political leaders from both parties have challenged "the no other choice" arrogance.
With SAFE, the member-owners are being asked to vote to "self-destruct" in a merger they didn't want, with an out-of-state partner which appears financially inferior. The majority of SAFE members will not approve "this no choice merger". The SAFE board has stated it will appeal to the state regulator to overrule "the members choice"!
At SECU, the board and senior management have of late stripped away many rights of members to participate. The Board has even threatened to effectively bar "the members choice" to independently nominate board candidates. The Board - through a non-independent nominating committee - routinely presents the 3 million SECU members with "no choice" in board candidates. "Without choice" of candidates, is there an election?
✔ Choice is the cornerstone of democracy. Is it working?
Is there a better choice?
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Have Members Become A Nuisance To Credit Unions?
They're such a bother!
"The SECU Annual Membership Meeting (Annual Meeting) will be held on Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. at the Koury Convention Center, Sheraton Greensboro Hotel at Four Seasons, 3121 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro, N.C. 27407."
"The one item of business will be an election of three of the eleven Board of Directors positions."
😎 Three million SECU members have "no business" being there?
If no election, no business items [link]... no Annual Meeting? Why bother?
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