I almost fell off my chair after reading the Editor’s Column,“Work Fundamentals until You Ache and Win” in the April 24issue.

“Some credit union executives have told me they aren’tcomfortable with lobbying because they don’t want to offendmembers,” writes Sarah Snell Cooke. Sounds like an issue ofpartisanship to me, and we all can see how partisanship isimpacting the ability of our government to do its job.

I agree, no matter how you cut it, lobbying is necessary. It’san effective tool for use in protecting the assets of one’sbusiness. It’s part of the American way, so why on earth shouldanyone feel uncomfortable lobbying on behalf of the interests ofyour organization?

O.K., I can understand such hesitancy if the need is to lobbyfor something that is detrimental to the welfare of others But,credit unions only lobby for what is beneficial to their members,right? So what gives?

I have to say, as a member-owner with a vested interest in thegood rates and yields I get from my credit unions (yes, I belong tomore than one), I would expect that they do everything that’spossible to safeguard their ability to continue such exemplaryservice. One requirement is to engage all elected officials with apurpose of helping them understand how a piece of legislation mightbenefit or detract from a credit union’s ability to provide suchquality financial services, and in particular, services benefittingthat elected official’s constituents. God knows, if a credit uniondoes not provide such counsel or advocacy, others will, and I’mwilling to bet the outcome would not be very ­appealing to thecredit union community at all.

However, advocacy can’t stop there. It must also include themembers of every credit union, even though they consist ofRepublicans, Democrats, independents, and nonpartisans, alike.Should such a minefield of political views and philosophies be seenas a legitimate reason to excuse all credit union execs from theirlobbying responsibility because they don’t want to offendanyone?

Engaging members and lobbying their support should not be viewedas playing politics but rather as an effort to educate by offeringunbiased facts and information. After all, education is one of thecooperative principles defining the credit union business model.Right?

There’s no denying it. Lobbying must have its rightful place atevery credit union. Above all, we must never allow the negativebickering and innuendos that seem to characterize the current stateof America’s political process to permeate our own way of thinkingand stymie our ability to communicate and represent what’s best forcredit unions and their members. We should not be uncomfortable tolobby but uncomfortable because, just maybe, we all could be doinga better job at it.

Walt Laskos
Principal
The Laskos Group
Temecula, Calif.