Year begins with NCUA chairmanship hot potato

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The start of 2001 began with some excitement for NCUA with the resignation of one chairman, the appointment of another, and then the swearing in of a president from a different political party. Despite all the changes, the agency remained stable. NCUA Board Member Yolanda Wheat, a Democrat, was named chair following the departure of former-NCUA Chairman Norm D’Amours in the waning hours of 2000. Credit union lobbyist Geoff Bacino, of Bacino and Associates, also joined the board at this time as a recess appointee by outgoing-President Bill Clinton. Wheat held the chairmanship barely a month when President George W. Bush (R) turned the agency’s reigns over to then-NCUA Board Member Dennis Dollar, as acting chairman. Dollar was named permanent chairman shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks. In the meantime, Wheat’s term expired in August but has yet to be replaced, and Bacino’s recess appointment nears its finale with the recess of Congress. Iowa State Senator JoAnn Johnson has been nominated by the president to fill Wheat’s position and awaits Senate confirmation. Former Department of Agriculture official Deborah Matz has been suggested by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) to fill the lone Democratic seat on the board, replacing Bacino. Bacino still holds out hope that his stay on the board will be extended. Four years remain on the six-year term Bacino’s seat is granted, after D’Amours stayed an extra year and Bacino has served all of 2001.