Conference 7.286::dcu

  o  What is to happen to the Information "Protection" Policy?

  o  What was the 1986 investigation about, and what were its results?

  o  Will the peformance bond on the former BoD be pursued?

  o  Was Chuck Cockburn fatally damaged by his support of the former BoD?

  o  How will the Bylaws be updated in the future?

  o  Will BoD minutes be published in NOTES?

  o  Will future BoD meetings be open to shareholders?

  o  Will BoD minutes be made available to shareholders?

  o  Will agendas at future meetings be open to motions from the floor?

  o  Whose money paid for the Bermuda, etc. BoD travel?

  o  What BoD members are compensated;  what is the compensation?

    Is it valid for the BoD to present information in a way that is not
    uniformly accessible to all members?  
    
    I'm thinking specifically about NOTES.  I certainly hope the BoD can
    present "official" information in NOTES, but NOTES readers constitute
    only a portion of DCU members; is this somehow a problem?
    
    
    Then there's the infamous Watergate question, slightly modified:
    "What did the old BoD know, and when did they know it?"
    How vigorously does this want/need to be pursued?  Will it serve a useful
    purpose?  How much energy should be expended digging into the closets
    for skeletons vs. simply "getting on with it" and fixing DCU?
    
    
    

    o  Will there be nominating committees in the future that have more
       than 3 members on it, non of which is the DCU President?
    
    o  Will the criteria the NC goes by to select candidates be published
       in advance so that at least people know what their charter is?
    
    o  Will DCU employees, in future elections, be only allowed to vote
       in BoD elections and not use their position to influence the
       outcome?

Given that Chuck Cockburn saw the BoD as one he explicitly wanted to work for,
and given that he no longer works for the bosses he claims to have picked:

What level of cooperation will we expect from Chuck?

- Has the information protection policy been repealed?  If not, when?

- Have *all* fees been rolled bact to pre-more-choices days?  If not, when?

- When will action on these items be communicated to all members? How?

BobW

    I have heard from present and former DCU empolyees that certain levels
    of upper DCU management get bonuses at year end...  I'm not aware of
    why and how they get this, ie: branch performance, loans, etc. or if
    this is or isn't the right thing to do as if this is "normal" for the
    banking industry.  I do think however that there should be some type of
    enlightenment of this practice to the membership via a compensation
    review panel or whoever sets their salaries.  I'm assuming that BoD
    sets the pesident's salary.  Does the president then have the free hand
    from there...?  What kind of process is involved in the upper
    mamagemant compensation packages...?  There's been alot of press about
    how CEO's are making way too much compared to business performance and 
    lower level employees salaries.  I would just like to be assured that
    things aren't out of place in this area.  I remember getting dividends
    and loan interest reductions or rebates depending on the DCU's
    performance.  I would just like to know that our "profits" aren't going
    to unjust compensations.
    
    	This is suppose to be a "non-profit" organization as is the United 
    Way...  But as we all found out recently, the president of the United
    Way was profiting alot more than he should of been IMHO...  Please
    don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the DCU employees or management, I
    for one have had no problems whatsoever and many pleasent dealings with
    the DCU and hope to continue in the future.  But at the same time, I
    don't want to be taken either.  If this is a industry norm, then so be
    it.  I would just like to see by what critique this is done or be
    assured that everything is within the industry norms.  I know it takes
    good money to attract good people.  And I believe that we DO have some
    real good people working at the DCU.  But is this just one of those
    management discretion type things that sometimes gets out of hand....
    
    ...out of the bottom line and our hands..........?
    
    
    A RON that's been a DCU member from day one....
    
    
    Doug Bourgault

 o Will recent changes to the by-laws which restrict power of the membership
   (such as the changes to the requirements for calling a special meeting)
   be rescinded?

 o Will future changes which affect the powers of the membership be required to
   be approved by the membership?

 o Is the DCU a DIGITAL Employee benefit or an entity totally separate and
   independent of the corporation?

 o Will the membership be regularly informed of any "special relationships"
   with the corporation and their expected ramifications?

-Jack

Will there be a way used to communicate those answers that may be
made to member/owners but should NOT be posted in a public notes file for
non DCU shareholders consumption?

For instance, if NETwork was not a glossy, you probably could add another
page and not raise the weight of the mailing.


Will VISIBLE progress be made quickly on those issues which can be easily
addressed?

	1) The "150 line" limit and the make up of the Nominating comm
		(The election starts again in 6 months)
	2) The LACK of free monthly statements of condition
	3) A meeting of DCU employees with the new board.

	o Addressing the needs of members outside the GMA

	o Term limitations - Needed or not - if so, what are the 
	  parameters?

				Tom_K

Here's a slightly different slant on a previous question re: 
compensation.  Whether or not the BoD members are currently 
compensated, should they be?  At what level?  And will the 
members be notified of what this compensation is?  For example, I
believe that it is reasonable for the DCU to pay legitimate
business expenses for BoD members.  (No, not trips to Bermuda!)

I also believe you get what you pay for. 

Maryellen

I believe the question of "what did the previous Board know and when did
they know it" should be pursued by the current Board.  For one thing, it
has bearing on whether it is appropriate to try to collect on the Board's
performance bond.  

I also think the question of what high level DCU managers knew should be
pursued, albeit with some delicacy.  This has to be pursued carefully,
with strict attention to treating people fairly -- and with recognition
that some DCU employees may have known things that they didn't dare 
speak out about.  No witch hunts!  But I'd like our new Board to have
as accurate a picture as possible of what was really going on.

Once the current Board has answers to these questions, they face a tougher
question:  what to reveal.  I doubt that it will be legal to reveal
everything, and I expect that they'll learn things it would be unfair
or inappropriate to reveal publically. But I think they should know,
and I think they should tell us whatever can be publicized, so that we
can finally let go of all of our nagging questions and forget the past.

	Larry Seiler

I have noted the list of things in this thread (and have a list of my
own) to discuss with the rest of the board in a couple of weeks.

To answer a couple of questions concerning Chuck Cockburn's relationship
with us now, from what little I've seen so far, he's in it for the long
haul. His attitude is one of "the election is over, you guys are the
board, let's get you up to speed and get on with it" and that's exactly
how it should be.

    Probably can't answer these:
    
    o When did the old BoD hear of the results of the 1986 report?
    
    o Was the report discussed in any of the minutes?
    
    Steve

       I agree with Larry. We should find out the answers to all the
    unanswered questions that have been popping up in here over the last 9
    months or so. It's fine for Chuck to say "get up to speed and get on
    with it" but a many of us are still waiting for a LOT of answers.
                                       Denny

Sorry, when I said "get on with it" they were not his words, it was my
interpretation of his attitude. I meant it in a very *positive* way. We
have not yet discussed the past. We've barely discussed anything yet.
I feel it's a more important immediate
goal to get DCU moving again than to find out what happened *for now*.

I agree that one of our (new board's) responsibilities *is* to find out what
happened and to let members know what happened. However, I feel that can best
be done after the new board comes up to speed. The worst thing we could do
now is to publish bits and pieces of the story in real time as we learn it.

    Two more items to add to the checklist:
    
    1)  Will the "old" (prior November 12, 1991) DCU Bylaws be re-instated?
    
    2)  Will protections (Bill of Rights?) be emplaced to prevent alterations
        of the Bylaws without prior knowledge or participation of the
        membership?
    
                                                      Ron
                                                      

    
      Oh yes, one more small item:
    
      Will Charles Cockburn and the newly elected BoD still feel the 
    need to have Security Personnel attendent at meetings, on any site,
    with the DCU membership?
    
      If so, will the BoD state the reasons and POLICY for said security?
    
                                                                      Ron 

    Will recording devices be allowed in future special meetings?

That's on my list to make happen.

    
    RE: .18
    
>    Will recording devices be allowed in future special meetings?
                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    
    Is there a petition going around I don't know about?  8-)
    
    
    
    Sure, why not.  If people are acting responsibly there should be no
    issue with recording devices.  Actually, DCU should record the meeting
    to insure the accuracy of the minutes.  Video cameras could be a bit
    disruptive though.  Imagine 1600 people, 200 with video cams all trying
    to get shots.  And then there are cameras with flashes going off left
    and right.  It could discourage some people from offering their opinion
    too.
    

    Yes.  We've decided to depose the entire new BoD for not getting rid of
    the Information Protection Policy fast enough.	:-)

What about the reinstatement of disbursement of the "profits" to share holders
and borrowers like we had in the early 80's? (I forget what that's called, but
you get the idea?) I also assume that this would be done after the finiancial
condition has reached some level of stability..

Bryan

    Did we ever see the 1991 auditor's report.  Or did I just miss it?

    I have two questions that I would like to see addressed and would ask
    members of the new BoD to take them up:
    
    	1) There are many georgraphies outside of GMA that have large DEC
    populations that, not only do not have a branch, but also do not even
    have an ATM.  Why??  We have some branches that have ATMs just outside
    their office.  What is the cost of an ATM and how can we get them
    better populated??
    
    	2) I don't know how it is back east, but the branch at CXO closes
    for lunch for 1 1/2 hours.  Why and what would the costs be to keep it
    open during lunch?  We have attempted to get this addressed locally to
    no avail - and if the DCu is serving its' membership when they are
    needed, being open during lunch should be a cost of doing business.
    
    I know these will not be priority items for the new Board, but they are
    issues that concern many outside of GMA (and maybe some from within).
    
    Any help on these would be appreciated.

    
    RE:  .24
    
    CXO closes for 1.5 hours for lunch?  Is that correct?

    Last time I checked it was ... even closing for 1/2 hour, in my mind,
    is really unacceptable.  Anyway, maybe changes can be made.

    What about offering Home Loans in more states (I am interested in GA).
    
    DCU will not offer a first mortgage to help us purchase
    or refinance a home.
    
    
    Brian.

    
    RE: .26
    
    I agree.  It's not consistent across DCU either.  Some branches close,
    some don't.  Now it looks like some close longer than others.
    
    Give us a little time to work on this.
    

    
    re: DCU Branch hours.
    
        Though slightly off-topic, I would like to comment on branch operating
    hours.  Here at SHR we have a DEC population of over 3,000.  There is
    only one branch on this very large site of three buildings.  I know
    this is also the case at many other Eastern and California sites.  Many
    branches have only three or four DCU employees with two teller windows.
    A teller at each window with a supervisor in the back office manning
    the phones and rotating with the tellers for breaks - very short and
    few breaks.  They are constantly busy and it never stops.  They take
    a 1 hour lunch from 12:45 to 1:45.  This is a courtesy to the customers
    whom may only go to the credit union at lunch.  They need and deserve
    that 1 hour. And while the tellers are on lunch the supervisor is still
    in the office manning the phones. They work this hectic pace together
    and like to take a breather together. This branch opens at 8:00am and
    closes at 4:00pm.  I've heard no customer concerns on these hours.
    I think the hours and lunch are reasonable.  And within reason I
    believe that the DCU branch staff should determine those operating
    hours per site.
    
        I say all this in the sincere hope that this NOT develop into
    a DCU employee bashing per se.  We Deccies have very liberal operating
    hours and lunchtimes ourselves.  The DCU branches do try to work with
    us.  They deserve a break, too.      

Let's also not lose sight of the fact that it is _not_ the function of the
Board of Directors to _manage_ the DCU, but rather to oversee that management
and provide direction. The DEFCU already has an intact management structure
in place to handle the general management of the business. If the issues
are ones that involve policies affecting members, that's one thing, but if
they are ones which primarily are concerned with the management of the
credit union, let's remember to leave them (DCU management) alone to do what
their job is.

As an example of what I mean, there are a lot of suggestions in here surrounding
By-laws issues. Those "belong" to the BoD - DCU management has no control
over the by-laws. Regarding issues surrounding the general operation of DCU,
it is resasonable to let the Board know of our concerns so that they can
decide whether or not to advise/direct DCU management to address them, but
DCU management needs (I think) to remain primarily responsible for those
areas.

-Jack

    I don't many people will disagree with .-1.

    The suggestions are occurring here for two reasons. First, the
    communication paths to the DCU management have had some problems, and
    second, some the new directors have indicated a willingness to pass on
    suggestions. We KNOW we are communicating with them.

    The Director's are there to set policy and not to micro-manage - I
    agree.  But they also set the tone for the level of service to
    customers.   I don't see these issues as being outside the role of a
    BoD member.
    
    And to be fair, I checked today and our DCU branch closes for 1 hour,
    not 1 1/2 as previously stated.  I am not sure if it was 1 1/2 hourse
    before.  Sorry for the mis-information.
                                     

What are the details of the salary and non-salary compensation of the upper
level DCU managers, including perqs and bonuses?  I realize that you cannot
reveal all of this, but I want you to find out (see note 544 re the NCUA).

What is "relationship banking"?  I realize that the more you borrow or
deposit, the better the terms will be, but are the DCU's up-scale programs 
suitably profitable, and therefore fair to the membership at large?

I know you can't tell us this one, but please find out the real terms of
Mangone's real estate loan.  Does it abide by the spirit of the law as
well as the letter of the law?

	Thanks,
	Larry