A thought for the season by English poet John Betjeman: Advent 1955
The Advent wind begins to stir With sea-like sounds in our Scotch fir, It’s dark at breakfast, dark at tea, And in between we only see Clouds hurrying across the sky And rain-wet roads the wind blows dry And branches bending to the gale Against great skies all silver pale The world seems travelling into space, And travelling at a faster pace Than in the leisured summer weather When we and it sit out together, For now we feel the world spin round On some momentous journey bound – Journey to what? to whom? to where? The Advent bells call out ‘Prepare, Your world is journeying to the birth Of God made Man for us on earth.’
And how, in fact, do we prepare The great day that waits us there – For the twenty-fifth day of December, The birth of Christ? For some it means An interchange of hunting scenes On coloured cards, And I remember Last year I sent out twenty yards, Laid end to end, of Christmas cards To people that I scarcely know – They’d sent a card to me, and so I had to send one back. Oh dear! Is this a form of Christmas cheer? Or is it, which is less surprising, My pride gone in for advertising? The only cards that really count Are that extremely small amount From real friends who keep in touch And are not rich but love us much Some ways indeed are very odd By which we hail the birth of God.
We raise the price of things in shops, We give plain boxes fancy tops And lines which traders cannot sell Thus parcell’d go extremely well We dole out bribes we call a present To those to whom we must be pleasant For business reasons. Our defence is These bribes are charged against expenses And bring relief in Income Tax Enough of these unworthy cracks! ‘The time draws near the birth of Christ’. A present that cannot be priced Given two thousand years ago Yet if God had not given so He still would be a distant stranger And not the Baby in the manger.
Sir John Betjeman, CBE, was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture. He began his career as a journalist and ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureate and a much-loved figure on British television.
Love’s Multiple Meanings
Craig Hella Johnson is an American choral conductor, composer, and arranger. He was born on June 15, 1962, in Crow Wing County, Minnesota
One unique aspect of Johnson’s programming is his signature “collage” style, or composed programs that marry music and poetry to seamlessly blend the sacred and secular as well as the classical and contemporary.
In an interview he notes: Music is a spiritual language of the freest kind. It doesn’t matter what your denomination or nonbelief or tradition is, because it’s about connecting with something larger than ourselves.
This work combines the well known Christmas carol Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming, with a poem, The Rose.
This was the final song of our Christmas concert yesterday. As you listen, it may bring a tear or two.
To understand today’s blog, I would ask the reader to first look at this TV news report on credit unions from KPBS. It is accompanied with a two-part written story by Scott Rodd, the station’s investigative report published on November 29, 2023.
The reporter has a good understanding of credit unions’ public image. His TV story opens with an interview from a member who states “they (credit unions) are not supposed to be in this for making the big bucks.”
The story counters the long asserted public image of credit unions as serving the “little guy.” The key data point is that credit unions are no different from banks when it comes to overdraft fees charged members, even though cooperatives routinely present themselves as “better than banks.”
He quotes the CEO’s statement in San Diego County Credit Union’s annual report that her goal is “putting people first and profits second.” This would be an interesting ranking for any coop leader.
The reporter reinforces this contrast of public image versus organizational behavior by pointing out the CEO’s total compensation has “increased seven-fold over the last decade to nearly $12 million dollars according to the according to SDCCU’s latest financial statements.”
The articles provide examples from other area credit unions of the role of overdraft fees along with six figure CEO salaries. His thesis is that credit unions are not actually what they claim to be, “community-based alternatives to big commercial banks.”
Lessons from This Reporting
The two-part story was triggered by the first disclosure of overdraft fees required by all state chartered financial institutions in California.
By focusing on this newly disclosed datapoint, the writer suggests that credit union rhetoric and practice do not align because “these fees are typically paid by “the most vulnerable” customers.”
Several observations. Compared with banks, credit unions are not as transparent in operational disclosures. Member-owners have significantly less public information than do bank owners. This is not just about OD fees but many other areas of operations including executive compensation. Only state charters, not federal credit unions, must file a IRS 990 which requires compensation data be disclosed.
Lack of transparency prevents members from having critical data about their credit union’s performance, in both ordinary and special circumstances such as merger or buying banks. Regular public information is also the best antidote to limit self-serving behavior.
Credit union leaders work in a capitalist economy. Often it is difficult for those in coop leadership roles to overcome the residual lures of capitalism. It is easier to adopt the priorities and practices of for-profit competitors than create the innovative options member-ownership offers.
The result of this investigative reporter’s story is “brand devaluation.” It presents credit union as no different from the alternatives cooperatives were meant to counter. It is a loss of real value in the both the public and political market place.
Talking to the Press
Repeatedly throughout his two part series, the reporter tells of his attempts to interview the leaders of the credit unions he is covering. These efforts for comment include the California Credit Union League.
By not participating, credit unions reinforce the idea that they do not have an explanation or response to the writer’s point of view.
One leader is an exception: Bill Birnie, CEO of Frontwave. He goes on camera to talk about the credit union’s courtesy pay product. He discusses his current salary openly with the reporter.
He apparently was the only credit union person willing to engage on this sensitive topic. The story was more than just OD fees and the members this affects. It goes personal by contrasting this practice with the compensation of those implementing the fees.
Leadership is more than trumpeting success. It also requires a willingness to address criticism and possibly poor judgments. This is especially so when done in public where the critic may have the last word or “already has the story written.”
Leadership when confronted with alternative points requires character, a willingness to listen, and the courage to sit down with one’s questioners.
In this case, apparently only one person was willing to stand up and be responsible. I don’t think it was an accident that it was Bill, who came to credit union leadership later in life. Here is a short synopsis of his career before coops:
Bill is a 25 year veteran of the US Marine Corps, retiring in 1997 at the rank of Sergeant Major with combat service in Operations Desert Storm in Kuwait and United Shield in Somalia.
Bill is an example of what it means when “we thank someone for their service” and what it brings to their subsequent civilian roles.
A Seasonal Song in a Time of Conflict
One of the most recognized Christmas songs is I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
On Christmas day, 1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—a 57-year-old widowed father of six children, the oldest of which had been nearly paralyzed as his country fought a war against itself—wrote a poem seeking to capture the dynamic and dissonance in his own heart and the world he observes around him.
The words go from despair (There is no peace on earth,” I said;”For hate is strong, And mocks the song”) to hope:
The following persons are in transition. They have dedicated most of their professional lives to the service of credit unions.
A Farewell Address
Jim Dean arrived at Affinity Credit Unions, Des Moines Iowa five years ago. It was a turnaround situation in multiple respects. In September 2023 the credit union was awarded NAFCU’s credit union of the year recognition.
The following is from his farewell message to the credit union members and the team he led.
“As the saying goes, days pass slowly but years go by in a blur. When we moved here from Illinois in September 2018, my commitment to the board of directors was to work as your CEO for five years. It’s been a pleasure leading this member-owned cooperative into its 75th year, but now is the time for me to retire and let a new leader take over.
“Our mission statement and vision of Building Better Lives was an important change introduced five years ago. That has been the focus ever since and we have made this a reality. We have excellent staff from front to back & our volunteers are engaged and motivated to work in your best interests.
“We don’t focus on the community to earn rewards but have earned rewards and the highest acclaim in large part because of our community impact.
“Our marketing focuses on our brand. If you compare our offerings to those big credit unions who do this, we line up quite well throughout our entire product line.
Yes, our commercials talk about the Best Credit Union Ever, but having received the National Credit Union of the Year in the $500 million and under category is something to shout about.
“We might add that our credit card program is the best ever as well as our checking accounts in terms of fairness and transparency.
“Highlights of my time include our Building Better Holidays campaigns. Non-profit organizations are reluctant to promote themselves, so we’ve done that for many in our community.
“We fought hunger in partnership with the Food Bank of Iowa & through our six-year partnership with the Iowa Wild and by working with organizations like Meals from the Heartland.
“When COVID-19 shut down Iowa, and much of the world, we immediately communicated our decision to waive all fees, allow payment deferments, and alleviate financial pressure that lost wages brought. We closed our lobbies and transitioned many employees to remote working for the first time ever.
“I’m very proud of the annual meetings we have conducted. Member democratic control, as well as education, are two of the seven principles on display the second Tuesday of May each year.
“Most of all, I’m proud of our people. This includes our leadership team, employees, and volunteers. They understand what working in the member’s best interest means and that is emphasized by all managers daily. This is a relationship business and much of our recipe for success.
“I probably should mention that our financial performance has been off the charts excellent, something we don’t mention often.
“My door is a quick left as you enter the Hoffman lobby. The door is (almost) always open, so stop by this month to say goodbye or maybe hello for the first time.
“Thank you for this opportunity.”
Honoring a Lifetime
On October 3, 2024 the cooperative community will inducte five new honorees in the Cooperative Hall of Fame in Washington, DC. One is a credit union veteran. Here is his brief resume from the announcement.
Introduced to credit unions in the late 1970s, Clifford Rosenthal has spent his career promoting financial equity and inclusion in the nation’s most overlooked and underserved communities.
Growing up amidst transformative campaigns for social justice in the 1960s, Cliff began his cooperative journey by organizing and managing food cooperatives in New York City and Connecticut. This led him to Washington, DC, and the National Association of Farmworker Organizations where he was tasked to organize a credit union to serve its members.
Upon his return to New York, Cliff joined the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (the Federation), first as a volunteer until he was hired as staff. By early 1983, the Federation was preparing to close for good after federal funding was eliminated.
Sustained by his conviction that community development credit unions (CDCUs) were important and must be preserved, he once again took on a volunteer role as the Federation’s Executive Director. In partnership with Annie Vamper, the pair rebuilt the Federation into a catalyst for transformative change.
Understanding the critical role capital plays in low-income communities and CDCUs, Cliff pursued a two-pronged strategy to capitalize CDCUs by creating new channels to mobilize private investments and by expanding sources of public financing. This eventually led to the birth of the CDFI Fund in 1994 after President Clinton signed the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act. As well, he worked to secure NCUA’s allowing low-income credit unions the privilege of raising secondary capital.
I understand Cliff has another book to be released about his many adventures with low income credit unions.
Washington Credit Union Daily’s New Home
Credit union’s self-awareness depends much on the writers and press dedicated to telling the industry’s stories. One person is David Baumann. He has been covering the credit union industry for more than seven years, first at the Credit Union Times and then at CUCollaborate.
Based in DC, his blog is free on Substack. His focus is the multiple legislative, regulatory, and political developments affecting credit unions. Readers may go to his website, call up a story or scroll down to the “subscribe” option.
The Changing Seasons of Lives
I first heard a performance of O Love by Elaine Hagenberg (b. 1979) a week ago at American University’s December chorus concert.
The concert’s title was Stay with Me. The selections presented the theme of relationships on which all depend.
The beautiful melody might not fall strictly into the Christmas music genre. Rather, it is a message for all seasons.
The words have a story. George Matheson, a Scottish Presbyterian minister, found himself at age 20 alone when he went blind and his fiancé decided to break off the marriage. She left him. He turned to the Lord. In the darkness of the moment, he wrote this hymn in five minutes. It never needed any editing.
Today’s carol and credit union story is captured in the opening line of the music below. First, the credit union’s account.
Every Touchpoint Matters
This is the story of a member contacting the President of his Credit Union after reading the monthly Newsletter. And what happened next. (used with permission)
From: Daniel H. <dh@xxx.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2023 11:32 AM To: Jeff Carpenter <jeffc@weokie.org> Subject: Thank you
I received your news letters In Regards of thanksgiving and all the delightful things Weokie does for their members. my wife and I are thankful for you and the company for providing good deeds to the community. we ourselves have been struggling and I’m not going to lie. our account has been at struggles with overdrafting every month to make ends meet. but we work every day to try to improve ourselves to be better. one day our account will stay on the positive side and look forward to all the new adventures to come.
I loved this message because our member, who is going through some health and financial challenges, was simply thanking WEOKIE for being such a great community citizen.
Thanks to Diane we were able to learn more about his account. We agreed that I should reach out to see if a meeting would be of interest. I engaged in an email exchange with Daniel and coordinated a meeting with Daniel and his wife Jessica to meet with Patrick and myself at South.
Setting up a Meeting
Patrick did some great work preparingfor the meeting. Together we probed to learn their story and understand how they got to this situation. Much was from their trying to help so many others in their family.
Patrick talked through lots of options. I might have added some too, but in the end, Patrick was able to convince everyone (yes, including me) that taking “one step” not sixty, was the best path forward.
We extended a significant signature loan to get them out of the mountain of high-risk debt that was pushing them to the brink of financial collapse. Patrick was empathetic, yet firm, in his conversations. He was able to gain agreement to eliminate Courtesy Pay, for WEOKIE to handle the pay-offs, and to set up automatic loan payments on the day their monthly income is credited to their WEOKIE account – all of these help mitigate our risk.
We met with them, took the loan application, approved it, and paid off their high-interest loans in 48 hours. That led to the following email from Daniel:
From: Daniel H. <dh@xxx.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2023 3:47 PM To: Jeff Carpenter <jeffc@weokie.org> Subject: thank you
Jeff
My wife and I would like to thank you for the help you and your team for the opportunity to help us succeed in our goals and for giving us Patrick to work with. he was an awesome gentleman. he worked hard to help us out and succeeded in getting what we needed done for a good approval. I’m looking forward to a good start in bettering ourself. we will keep in contact and keep you updated on our success.
thanks again
Dan and Jessica
Special thanks to Melissa, Diane, and Patrick for letting me participate in living our vision of making a difference, one person at a time. And affirming that “every touchpoint matters” is a good strategy.
Today’s Music of the Season
The Wexford Carol is a traditional religious Irish Christmas carol originating from the town Enniscorthy in County Wexford. The subject of the song is the nativity of Jesus Christ. This recording is from Clare College, Cambridge in composer John Rutter’s arrangement, which begins with Good people all.
Last Sunday I heard Mary’s Little Boy Child by The Suspicious Cheese Lords. This calypso Christmas carol was written by Jester Harrison (1901-1990), a gospel singer. Here is his recording.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFRDQrOkG7s)
More credit union good deeds of the season tomorrow.
Ed Callahan as both Director of the DFI in Illinois and as Chair of NCUA, had a post-Thanksgiving practice to recognize the December holiday spirit. He would find a local radio station that played holiday music as its full time programming through Christmas. In Washington the classical FM stations used to follow this practice.
He kept the volume low, but still enough to acknowledge the special spirit and joy this time of year can bring.
But work does not go away. December is the month that the NCUA board will make very consequential decisions on the amount of credit union funds it proposes to spend.
The budget agenda includes how much is spent, the normal operating level (NOL) for the insurance fund, the Overhead Transfer Rate (OTR) taken from the NCUSIF, and how the full year financials for three credit union funded operations were managed.
December’s posts will imitate Ed’s practice by presenting music of the season. At the same time, I will preview some of the data and issues for NCUA’s upcoming budget approvals, along with other observations.
This is a season of joy and beauty, sometimes beyond our understanding. But amid these moments of glory the real world events of power used and misused continue.
Angels We Have Heard on High
This French Christmas hymn was translated by James Chadwick and is performed by a traditional choir.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RlMuRYvndU)
NCUA’s Budget Creep: Growing from a Specialist to an 8-Person Office
In a March 9, 2020 post, I wrote of the personal indiscretions by Michael McKenna, NCUA General Counsel (July 2011 to November 2019) and his Deputy General Counsel Lara Daly-Sims.
The IG report detailed strip club visits and drinking while on the job from February 2017 through the beginning of the investigation in November 2019. The General Counsel is the Agency’s senior legal officer providing interpretations and support directly to the NCUA Board and Chair.
Besides replacing the Agency’s two top lawyers, what else did the Board do about this high level leadership failure? On April 22, 2020 NCUA announced that in a March closed meeting the Board decided to hire a “chief ethics counsel.”
Supervised by the chairman, the press release stated: “The Office of Ethics Counsel will certify the agency’s compliance with relevant federal ethics laws and regulations, promote accountability and ethical conduct, and help ensure the success of the NCUA’s ethics programs.” This responsibility had been under the General Counsel’s office.
This personnel performance failure was resolved by expanding staff, a classic bureaucratic response to a problem. This new position was necessary to inform three board members, their personal policy advisors, senior staff including the executive director and deputy, the general counsel and deputy, and the human resources office the difference between right and wrong behavior!
The real problem was actually a failure of administrative oversight, not understanding morality. The hiring was a political act to divert responsibility from all the senior staff who worked closely with these people during the episodes described in the IG’s investigation.
But is there any downside for another pair of eyes reviewing the agency’s personnel actions. There is. It quickly became much more than one pair of eyes.
The 2024 NCUA budget increases the Office of Ethics Counsel to 8 full time staff with an average salary of $293,000 each. This 15.2% increase pushes the total 2024 expenditures to $2.449 million.
Some believe that problems are solved by government spending more. In this episode of personal indiscretions, the solution has grown from a “chief ethics counsel” to a separate, new legal department of 8 full time employees.
This is the pattern across NCUA’s ever expanding budgets for 20 separate “Offices” and three regions.
Harper and Hood both approved this solution (McWaters was replaced by Hauptman). Is now the time to assess this ever-growing cost to determine whether there are more efficient ways to address the Agency’s ethical climate?
If safety and soundness is the Agency’s primary purpose how does an 8-person Ethics Office contribute? These positions are in addition to the 44- person legal department and 47 employed in human resources. Are ethics of the NCUA staff really that big a problem?
Jason Lindstrom, CEO at the $535 million Evergreen Credit Union in Portland, Maine posted the following yesterday:
We’ve got a great Board of Directors and are looking for great people to join our Board. Please let meknow if you are interested.
Are you a passionate Maine business owner, community leader, or senior manager looking to collaborate with professionals like you? We’re looking for hardworking Mainers to serve on Evergreen’s Board of Directors. 🌲
On our Board, you’ll be sharing your knowledge and collaborating with Evergreen’s leadership team to create change in our credit union for our members and positively impact your community.
Evergreen Credit Union is the 5th largest credit union in Maine with over $535 million in assets to date. We’re proud to serve over 28,000 members throughout 6 counties in southern Maine. We’re excited for Evergreen Credit Union to grow as we continue to bring award-winning member service and products that help our members every day.
Ready to start? To submit your application or inquire, email ceo@egcu.org by December 15.
An All Hands Effort
I called Jason to find out more about this unique approach recruiting new board volunteers, all unpaid.
The credit union has nine voting members and three non-voting directors. As a community charter, it is vital for the credit union to expand relations with local organizations. Jason is on three 501C3 volunteer boards and a Maine League director.
In prior years and again this year, the credit union had placed ads for board openings in local papers, but received no response. Finding volunteers has become more difficult effort for all his associations. A different approach was necessary to attract persons whose might feel they had little spare time to give.
The board decided to go all out in its search for three openings in 2024 by using social media. An ad was placed on Facebook. Directors and staff were asked to repost the announcement on their social media accounts, hoping to expand the audience reached.
Building Deeper Community Ties
In most credit unions, board recruitment is a private affair. Candidates are incumbents, self-nominated, or sought from directors’ existing relationships. The process is characterized by political considerations versus a public invitation for leadership talent.
Evergreen’s strategy is to be more and more “community connected.” Membership has been growing at almost 7% per year. In a largely rural state, people value their local relationships and organizations. Informing the community in this messaging effort is another illustration of their commitment to Portland and surrounding towns.
Reinforcing their community ties is integral to Evergreen’s business model. Tapping into the Maine spirit that values relationships is vital to attracting motivated talent. And as Ed Callahan would say, “When you run with good people, good things will happen.”
Often outsiders offer fresh insight about what makes credit unions special then found in the industry’s own internal coverage.
Next City is a digital journalism site that provides innovative examples of individuals and organizations confronting the challenges of urban life. Its focus is on solutions that improve the conditions of those most disadvantaged in large cities.
Credit unions are frequent go-to examples. The following are two recent reports that highlight their special roles.
The article describes the efforts of Granite Credit Union in Salt Lake County, Utah to receive the Juntos Avanzamos designation.This designation certifies that the credit union is committed to serving Hispanic and immigrant communities by being accessible to Spanish speakers, conducting research on the local Hispanic community, offering accessible and relevant affordable housing programs, and more.
The story reports that the Hispanic/Latino population continues to rise in pockets across the U.S. including by 37.6% in Utah from 2010 to 2020.
The article presents the history and process for the Juntos Avanzamos designation which now spans over 27 states. The credit union model is an ideal fit for many of these new Americans because: “When you give someone an opportunity and take a chance with them when all other doors are closed, it builds incredible loyalty, sometimes for life.”
“The Fabric that Makes America”
A November 21, 2023 article, The Outsized Impact of Small Credit Unions, interviews Sue Cuevas, the CEO of the $4.8 Nueva Esperanza Community Credit Union in Toledo, Ohio. The second credit union leader is Sheilah Montgomery CEO of the $24 million Florida A&M University Federal Credit Union in Tallahassee, Florida.
The CEO’s comments are candid and illustrate the realities of small credit unions with a deep commitment to serving their communities. Here are short excerpts from the Q&A portion of the story:
Our overhead is much lower than some of your billion-dollar financial institutions. We have one branch, an ATM and eight staff team members. But we have a full-service financial institution. Because of our lower overhead, we’re keeping our interest rates lower than our competitors. . .For instance, we did loans with no credit checks.
On the Latino community in Ohio: The pandemic really hit hard. A lot of (our members) lost their jobs. They were in restaurants, housekeeping, places that shut down. . . Where I’m located people don’t even know what a 401K is. Right now, we don’t offer checking accounts. Most of our credit union members speak Spanish. They don’t know how to write in English. So, checking accounts to them are very foreign. . .
Currently we’re located in the basement of a health clinic. You have to come down some very big steps. It’s not an advantage to my members. The parking area is also very limited. So, our initiative is to get into a much larger location above ground, which allows our members the ability to come in safely and park safely.
FAMU: Since we are a full-service financial organization, we offer a plethora of products and services and most recently we’ve expanded our business loan services to help small businesses, who we like to call the fabric that makes up America. We processed approximately $2 million in small business loans over the last 18 months.
These stories show credit union relevance is not based on asset size, but the power of serving others. Their example should make us all proud of a system that attracts leaders living these commitments for their communities.
How important is the knowledge of an organization’s past for a new leader? Isn’t the responsibility of any CEO to take a firm forward from the present to the future? Moreover, can’t one rely on existing staff and members to affirm what is important to know from history-if needed?
This is not a hypothetical situation. Credit unions will sometimes choose new leaders with no connection to the organization or even to credit unions. An example is BECU’s new CEO. One current NCUA board member and the newly nominated member waiting Senate confirmation have no prior association with credit unions.
How History Informs the Present
Recently I attended the 300th anniversary of the “founding” of the Bethesda Presbyterian Church. The date of 1723 is somewhat arbitrary as there are no specific records except the journeys of itinerate ministers who came from Philadelphia to Cabin John and Bethesda to hold services.
According to the cornerstone, a new church building was constructed in 1850 on the tallest hill in the area after the original 1829 structure was destroyed by fire. The church was called Bethesda. It was named after the pool of Bethesda in the biblical story of the lame man waiting to be lifted into healing waters. That eventually became the name of the town that grew up in the area.
The 1850 church and Victorian era manse occupy four acres which includes a cemetery. The Presbyterian church founded there, moved to a new location in 1925. Various other congregations have used the buildings since. In 2019, the entire site was abandoned. The buildings and surrounding grounds have had no maintenance.
Nevertheless the buildings have received an Historic Site designation which prohibits it from being developed as a commercial or residential project today.
The church has seen some historic moments. During the Civil War confederate cavalry occupied the site before union soldiers drove them away. Abraham Lincoln is said to have visited the church.
The building contains the original beautiful sandwich glass windows. There is a slave quarters in the rear back balcony of the church. The original bell was stolen from its moorings in October of this year.
Besides its long historical role, why should this past matter to modern day Bethesda? When we moved here in 1982, the town was still small, marked by single and double story buildings surrounded by family homes and apartments. The metro had not opened. One could drive in and park on the lot at the Hot Shop in the town’s center.
Today Bethesda is a developer’s dream with twenty story multi-use condos and offices multiplying like rabbits. No small parcel is exempt from this vertical expansion, except for the Tastee diner that sits at the foot of Marriott’s World Headquarters.
Reason for Resurrecting the Site
What does an abandoned, overrun hill with two deteriorating buildings mean to this new mecca of upscale commerce and residences?
In a talk during the 300th anniversary celebration of the Church, a local volunteer historian presented his thoughts on why preserving a community’s history matters.
The church is old and freighted with history. Which begs the question of why we are here, celebrating it. To me, the answer is that shared history is an important part of what defines a community. We can only understand and celebrate what we are when we understand and appreciate how we came to be. And we look to the past to prepare for the future because, as James Burke wisely observed, “there is nowhere else to look.”
In the end, it doesn’t matter that we can’t pinpoint the founding date of this congregation. What matters is that the history of Bethesda Presbyterian Church and its (original) Meeting House is literally the history of Bethesda—its rise, its growth, its weaknesses, its redemption.
No other building or institution comes close. How did we begin? Look here. How did we cope with slavery and its legacy? Look here. How did we evolve from a farm hamlet to a suburb to an urban center with all the strengths and challenges that brings. Look here.
Credit Unions, History and Mission
Credit unions have played an integral role in their members’ lives and what it means to be part of a “community” initially called a “field of membership.”
It is not the buildings and products that define a coop, but rather belonging to a group whose mission is to take care of each other, even today. Members bring their history, sometimes their entire lives, contributing to keeping it going.
That continuity of mission is why credit unions exist. When that history is forgotten, ignored or seems irrelevant to the present, that is when we begin to lose our future.
A credit union can be much more than a financial institution; it is a means of creating and sustaining a “community” that cares about each other. And whose history will have “its rise, its growth, its weaknesses, its redemption” just as this Bethesda spiritual congregation has experienced in its 300 years.
In a recent conversation with a newly chosen CEO on creditunions.com, the following was a comment on what she believed was necessary for her effectiveness:
JV:In a leadership role, it’s crucial to surround yourself with individuals who are comfortable telling you the truth. People naturally want to please the boss and tell them how great they are and might hesitate to disagree or deliver unpleasant information. It’s important to create a safe space where people feel comfortable voicing their opinions and assisting in decision-making.
Everyone has a little bit of an ego. It’s nice to hear that praise, but that can make it too easy to believe everything is going well, so you must actively seek out different perspectives.
Now that I’m in this role, I realize the importance of this kind of transparency. I knew it before, I’ve supervised hundreds of employees and billions of dollars in business, but now that I’m in the CEO role, I can see it even more clearly.
NCUA’s budget and Operating Decisions
Credit unions have both formal and informal ways to present their views to the NCUA board. One process was the recent 2024-25 budget hearing and subsequent comments submitted.
But will this process make a difference? Or is it just political theater in which suggestions are requested, but then the Agency proceeds to do what it intended in the first place.
Eleven comment letters were sent to NCUA and posted on its website. These five short excerpts reflect aspects of “truth” that these commentators believe should be considered at December’s budget approval meeting.
From VCUL:
We urge the agency to provide a more comprehensive and detailed explanation of the growing expenditures for the agency’s Modern Examination & Risk Identification Tool (MERIT). While we appreciate that a platform like MERIT is ever evolving and that its core building blocks will require ongoing maintenance and upgrades, we believe credit unions are rightly justified in demanding greater transparency regarding costs. The agency spent more than $54 million on MERIT’s development, with an additional $3 million budgeted in 2024 and 2025. It is fair to question the return on investment for both credit unions and the agency absent a more detailed explanation of program costs.
The second largest expense in the agency’s proposed 2024-2025 budget is Contracted Services.. . the actual cost for contracted services in 2024 is much higher and is estimated to be $70.1 million, but that cost is offset by the prior year’s unspent funds. If these unspent funds were not available, the total cost of these services would increase by $28.7 million, a 70% increase compared to 2023, an amount which is reflected in the proposed 2025 budget.
From OCUL:
The NCUA’s operating budget in 2010 was $201 million as compared to $382.1 million in this proposed operating budget. While the proposed 2024 operating budget is an 11% increase compared to 2023, it adds up to an overall 90% budget increase within the last fourteen years, far exceeding inflation rates over the same period. These year-over-year increases reveal an alarming pattern; a large and ongoing increase in credit union funding for ever-expanding NCUA spending.
OCUL is concerned with the NCUA’s strategic choice to invest credit union funds for further staff expansion. . . the NCUA Board reported a mid-year surplus of $3.5 million that was subsequently used to hire additional staff; specifically, the NCUA sought to hire two (2) new Credit Union Resource Expansion (CURE) positions and four (4) new cybersecurity positions, with a projected cost of $1.6 million. Not only is the NCUA Board requesting to hire 28 positions, including 11 entirely new positions, and 13 additional consumer compliance specialists, which is an increase in examination time for consumer financial protection reviews equivalent to 11 examiners, this Budget now has to account for positions in 2023 that were hired with a budget surplus.
From ICUL:
Illinois state-chartered credit unions are subject to the Illinois Community Reinvestment Act (IL CRA) which will add a significant compliance burden and associated costs, in addition to significant examination fees. Credit unions are the original consumer advocates and already do the work to ensure its members, regardless of financial condition, have access to financial products and services at a fair price. The NCUA’s desire to add complexity to its existing consumer compliance examination is unnecessary, especially considering Illinois credit unions and many across the country are already facing additional scrutiny by its primary state regulator.
From CUNA:
The value credit unions deliver is disproportionately obvious among those who really need help. . . Today, the nation’s credit unions remain mission-focused: promoting financial wellbeing, delivering outstanding value, and providing helpful advice, especially to those of modest means.
The just-released Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, for example, shows that net worth in the consumer sector rose by a record 34 percent in the three years ending 2022. As a group, bank customer households now reflect mean net worth of $1.3 million and median net worth of $220,000; totals that are respectively 140 percent and 23 percent higher than the comparable measures within credit union member households.
From NAFCU:
The credit union industry is strong and well-capitalized. As of June 30, 2023, the industry’s net worth ratio was closing in on 11 percent and had risen over 40 basis points from a year prior. CAMELS rated 4 and 5 credit unions represented just 0.3 percent of total industry assets, a figure that is roughly half its pre-pandemic level. Thanks to strong loan growth in 2022 and rising investment yields, credit union net interest margins are up 40 basis points versus a year ago.
Will NCUA Listen and Align?
These are critical issues for Agency review. There were also two important points of context: the member mission of credit unions and the sound state of the industry.
Another observer made these comments about the underlying condition for a more responsive budget:
To change the budget, you must CHANGE the game – change the targets, the challenges must be new and raise the bar for the work.
If a group has no intentions to change the world, restart a fire, or set vision for something new, then there will not be anything new.
To change the budget, you need to inspire–put the spirit of “need better”, “deserve better” and “expect better” to ensure all segments of our industry do better.
To craft a better budget – the key is a willingness to rally the industry to want one, as the foundation for a better future and execution from top to bottom.
Only when NCUA is properly aligned with their audience, mission and futures will all the players be working for a shared mission.
Is there leadership that will pick up the torch for others to follow-within NCUA or credit unions- on this ever-expanding use of credit union funds?
Reason for Resurrecting the Site