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Conference 7.286::dcu

Title:	DCU
Notice:	1996 BoD Election results in 1004
Moderator:	CPEEDY::BRADLEY

Created:	Sat Feb 07 1987
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1041
Total number of notes:	18759

790.0. "Credit Union Purpose and Director Qualifications" by LANDO::NIEMI () Thu Mar 24 1994 12:13

Two, of many possible, questions now come to mind as the election is upon us:

1) What is the function of a credit union?

2) What qualifications should a member of the Board of Directors possess?

Years ago, I was a member of the Franklin County Virginia Federal Credit Union
whose motto was, "Not for profit, but for service."

I have a copy of of the following booklet:

				WCU
			    Fifty Years
			    OF SERVICE
			    1914-1964

			    Workers'
			    Credit
			    Union
				FITCHBURG, MASS.

On page 13, it states, "Its members have obtained loans at a reasonable rate of
interest.  There has been no sliding scale of interest rate depending on who you
are.  All have been treated fairly and equally.  The credit union has been a 
safe place to save money and to enjoy the highest interest rate paid by any 
bank in the area.  The current rate of dividend is 4-1/2%."

Related to the second question, the officers and directors (and occupations of
some that I knew) in 1964 were:

	OFFICERS:
	President - Eino A. Tofferi, owner of Tofferi Insurance Agency
	Vice-president - John Heikkinen, retired Finnish newspaperman
	Treasurer - J. Gustav Laakso, full-time credit union employee
	Assistant-treasurer - Herbert Ruotsala, full-time employee, I believe
	Attorney - Paul J. San Clemente, Fitchburg attorney in private practice
	Secretary - Savele Syrjala, Raivaaja (local Finnish newspaper) manager
	
	DIRECTORS:
	Arne E. Oksanen - Service station manager
	Erkki Koutonen - High school woodworking teacher
	Fabian Raatikainen - Foreman Raivaaja pressroom
	Weikko Hill - United Co-operative Society administrator
	Turo Hallfors - Teacher; later became elementary school principal
	Ahti O. Wiita - Chicken farmer or Co-op Farmers employee, I *think*
	Lauri Rajala - Retired, I *think*; occupation unknown
	Arno J. Kangas - Retired, I *think*; occupation unknown

How many had previously sat on a credit union board, or on any board, for that
matter?  How many had formal finance training or worked in finance jobs?

Thoughts?

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
790.1	Now or never?	ASE003::GRANSEWICZ	DCU Election: 3 G's -> NO FEES	`Thu Mar 24 1994 12:48`	23
	>Thoughts? See note 702.10. We have been conditioned and told we aren't good enough. Then DCU's former President absconded with millions of our dollars while "qualified" people were at the helm. The DCU membership stood up and took notice. They decided to replace the old Board with a mixture of "qualified" and "credit union philosophy" Directors. DCU then proceeds to model itself after the Bank of Boston. DCU members start to wonder, "Hmmmm, maybe having a background in banking, finance and investments isn't such a good thing." The "people helping people" gets lost in the deluge of what these people are comfortable with; numbers. The DCU membership has never had the opportunity to decide for itself whether it wanted fees or not. We CAN do that in this election. The DCU membership has never had the opportunity to decide for itself whether it wanted to remain true to credit union principles or continue on the road to bankdom. This election gives us that choice. Hopefully the DCU membership is aware of the importance of this election. These important choices will probably never happen again.
790.2		PATE::MACNEAL	ruck `n' roll	`Thu Mar 24 1994 12:54`	7
	� See note 702.10. We have been conditioned and told we aren't good � enough. Then DCU's former President absconded with millions of our � dollars while "qualified" people were at the helm. The DCU membership � stood up and took notice. After they received a mailing from those "qualified people at the helm" that Mangone had been fired for his actions.
790.3	Mail we'd rather never get in the first place	ASE003::GRANSEWICZ	DCU Election: 3 G's -> NO FEES	`Thu Mar 24 1994 13:05`	11
	And your point is? That we should have congratulated them for timely delivery of a "Dear member, we've lost $12 million of your money but fired the President..." letter? A Board's job is to make damn sure those letters never need to be sent in the first place. "investments", not loans they said. And all the while stating they did NOT invest in risky instruments. These "qualified" people must obviously live in a much different world than I do.
790.4	Revisionist history is so flexible...	WLDBIL::KILGORE	Time to put the SHARE back in DCU!	`Thu Mar 24 1994 14:34`	16
	.2> � See note 702.10. We have been conditioned and told we aren't good .2> � enough. Then DCU's former President absconded with millions of our .2> � dollars while "qualified" people were at the helm. The DCU membership .2> � stood up and took notice. .2> .2> After they received a mailing from those "qualified people at the helm" .2> that Mangone had been fired for his actions. Read note 240.* for a slightly different perspective It would seem that the DCU membership stood up and took notice IN SPITE OF, not because of, any actions of the then-seated board or management, which at the time was trying to get another ho-hom who-cares election out of the way.
790.5		BROKE::GEEWIZ::BOURQUARD	Deb	`Thu Mar 24 1994 16:26`	5
	>> 2) What qualifications should a member of the Board of Directors possess? According to my dad (who founded and presided over Montgomery County Employees' Federal Credit Union for many years), the most important qualification is common sense.
790.6		STRATA::JOERILEY	Legalize Freedom	`Fri Mar 25 1994 01:58`	3
	and it should be the only requirement. Joe