Opinion

As a member of both Community Credit Union and the Texas Coalition for Credit Union Members and the only individual of either of those memberships to personally attend (the) hearing in Sherman (Texas), I say the issue at the core of this conversion has yet to be appropriately addressed or adequately petitioned.

The issue at the core of the conversion of Community Credit Union to a mutual savings bank is that the nearly 200,000 CCU members have not yet been clearly, satisfactorily, nor completely informed. The CCU board of directors and/or senior management failed to either offer an open, equal and fair forum to CCU member-owners or by direct mail, address all the facts regarding how this conversion will adversely affect them as member-owners. CCU member-owners have not been provided with sufficient information about the consequences of this credit union-to-bank conversion including loss of membership/ownership of their credit union, the eventual increase in fees due to changing from non-tax to taxable status, and the significant personal, financial enrichment that will be available to CCU senior management, board of directors, and the usual insider-investors.

It is incredibly unfortunate that to date the local, state, and federal entities who are empowered and expected to protect, serve, support, and give voice to credit union member-owners have failed to adeptly do so.

The CCU board of directors and senior management have done an excellent job in promoting and campaigning to convert our credit union to a bank.

If I were unaware of the implications affecting my member-ownership due to my own aggressive research, I might even buy into what they're trying to sell, namely, trading my member-ownership for their potential, significant personal gain and enrichment.

I do know that approximately 10,250 votes of the 36,042 total votes cast by eligible CCU members were AGAINST THIS CCU CONVERSION. That tells me that I'm not the only CCU member-owner who knows this credit union-to-bank conversion is a bad thing for our member-ownership. What's at the core of this issue has nothing to do with a one-page, regulator-required, boxed disclosure and how it was folded or even included within a packet of pro-conversion materials mailed to CCU member-owners by CCU.

The Community Credit Union board has not yet acted responsibly to or on behalf of the credit union member-owners they are meant to protect, support, and serve. At the very least, the Community Credit Union board of directors owes the approximate 200,000 CCU members an open, impartial, fair, and full disclosure of all the facts, pros and cons, regarding their unanimous decision to convert from a not-for-profit, financial cooperative credit union to a for-profit mutual savings bank. CCU member-owners have a right to know all the facts, advantages, disadvantages, and possibilities regarding this conversion and until they are so informed, this issue cannot be abandoned or otherwise ignored. Think about it.

Kat Truitt
Dallas, Texas