Over the last year or so, the directors of the Columbia Credit Union in Vancouver, WA attempted to convert it to a mutual bank. Many members of the CU were unhappy about this, because when other CUs were converted this way, the directors ended up making a boat load of money after selling their shares, and accomplished nothing for the members.
There were two votes and court orders all around, ending in a special meeting to vote to retain or get rid of the directors. They survived that vote in the spring, but just barely.
Last week, there was a regular vote on the directors, who were defeated and replaced with the group who fought them so hard earlier this year.
Never underestimate the power of the vote!
From the newspaper account this week:
Columbia Credit Union employees gasped in disbelief Wednesday night as they watched a dissident membership group overhaul the financial institution's board of directors and unseat its supervisory committee.
"Oh God," one employee said.
"What?" another asked.
The responses came as four directors, Ed Bell, Bill Byrd, Bruce Davidson and Dennis McLachlan, lost their seats on the nine-person board of Clark County's largest credit union and one of its largest financial institutions.
The victory gives the dissident membership group the power to bring forth its agenda and stem what it saw as an erosion of the membership's control of the credit union. It also ends a 12-month battle over Columbia's future.
Go here to read the entire article.