RICHARDSON, Texas - Community Credit Union's member disclosurematerials state that a charter conversion to a mutual savingsinstitution is "in the best interests of our members." Some membersbelieve tactics used by the credit union at their shareholderannual meeting held at Richardson Civic Center April 25, like notallowing latecomers to enter the meeting and not allowinganti-conversion literature to be distributed, suggest a differentagenda. In most ways, the meeting was like any other annualmeeting. The roughly 250 members in attendance heard reports oncredit union successes and financial status, re-elected three boardmembers (unopposed), and were eligible for door prizes. The wholething wrapped up in a little more than an hour. But several thingswere noticeably different. Martin Sisk, who joined the credit unionin the late 1960s and has attended approximately five annualmeetings in the past, was not allowed to enter the meeting room,because he arrived 20 minutes late. Sisk was told the doors wereclosed and the computers used to verify all attendees' memberaccount numbers prior to entry had been shut down at the meeting'sstart time of 7 p.m. In previous years, before the credit unionapplied to change its charter, the credit union has allowed membersarriving late to attend the meeting. Sisk pleaded his case withCommunity's legal counsel Lenny Nicholson, who also would not allowhim entry to the meeting. Other members were told they could notenter the room without going through the proper procedures, but theprocedures did not allow for latecomers. "I read my disclosuresthat came in the mail, and I called the Office of ThriftSupervision to find out what the rules were, and I was going tosuggest at the meeting that if the credit union changed itscharter, they should distribute the earnings among the members,"Sisk said, "but they wouldn't let me in." Among the others notallowed entry was Jim Blaine, CEO of the $12 billion StateEmployee's Credit Union, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.Blaine was restricted from the meeting because he was not a CCUmember. Blaine told Credit Union Times that he wanted to attend theCCU's annual meeting to hear what Dick Ensweiler, CEO of the TexasCredit Union League and Chairman of CUNA would say. Blaine hassuggested in the past that Ensweiler is not taking a strong enoughstand against credit union conversions to banks. Blaine also wrylysaid he wanted to get the information that he was sure Gary Base,CEO of Community has, proving that the move to a mutual bank wasreally in the best interest of the credit union's members. "I knowGary Base would take his fiduciary duty very seriously so I am surehe has the opinions of independent third-party analysts andaccountants showing that converting to a mutual bank is in hismembers' best fiduciary interest," Blaine said. " I just wanted tosee those, because if converting to a mutual bank is really in mymembers' best interest, then I have a fiduciary responsibility toconvert as well," Blaine added. Ensweiler did question CCUmanagement during a question-and-answer period that followed thedoor prize giveaways at the meeting. Ensweiler, also a CCU member,wanted to know why members did not receive "more obvious notice"about the annual meeting date. According to Community's VP/Directorof Marketing Wendi Costlow, notification was comparable to what hasbeen done to publicize past annual meetings. The credit unionpublicized its annual meeting with a two-inch boxed ad in its March2005 member newsletter, a text message on its March statements, anotice posted in all branches the past 30 days, and a back coverone-third page ad in its Oct. 2004 newsletter. No announcement wasmade on the credit union's Web site. Ensweiler also challenged thecredit union's unwillingness to use the word "bank" in conversiondisclosure materials being sent to members. Concerning semantics inmember disclosures, Community's General Counsel Mark Hord answeredEnsweiler's objections by stating that NCUA had approved thedisclosures, so they believe they are meeting their legalobligations. Another change to this year's annual meeting almostlanded CCU member Elaine Laroa in jail. Laroa, the former executivedirector of the Texas Credit Union Foundation, also was registeredto speak in the Q&A session. Prior to her turn at themicrophone, she began handing out a form that listed conversionimplications and that urged members to vote against the creditunion's conversion to a mutual savings institution. An off-dutycity police officer, hired by the credit union, quickly escortedLaroa out of the room. She was told she was in violation of therules set by the credit union for the meeting. Specifically, thecredit union had signs posted outside the doors to the civic centerthat read, "No campaigning or campaign materials within 100 feet ofmeeting area." Laroa, who said she saw the signs but thought theywere part of the city's early voting signage, could have beencharged with trespassing had she not complied in leaving the room,according to Richardson Police Department's Sergeant Kevin Perlich."When they told me I couldn't hand out the literature, I said,`Okay, I'll stop and wait my turn to speak,'" Laroa said, "but thepolice officer said, `No, you've lost your right.'" Laroa told theaudience as she was escorted out, "They're dragging me out, becausethey don't want you to know the other side of the story." At presstime, Community Credit Union had not returned CU Times' phonecalls. [email protected] (Credit Union Times Staff Reporter DavidMorrison contributed to this story.)