(Editor's Note: Hardage is a former vice president of the TexasCU League under its Credit Union Resources umbrella. He managedTexas Credit Union Service Centers, Inc. until December 2003. Otherthan as a member, he is no longer affiliated with any credit unionorganization.) It is interesting and typical that now that the NCUAhas placed a stick on its shoulder and dared Community CU andOmniAmerican CU to knock it off, Texas CU League CEO and CUNAChairman Dick Ensweiler is only too happy to peek out from behindthe coattails of the NCUA and admonish both credit unions as"shameful" for filing suit against the NCUA. Mr.Ensweilercharacterizes the lawsuit as a waste of more member money andresources. If I'm not mistaken, only a few months ago Mr. Ensweilerstepped out from behind the coatails of a charter conversion taskforce and announced that the task force concluded charterconversion decisions were better left to credit union boards andmanagement. There's no doubt that charter conversion can beimmediately lucrative to credit union boards and management, andthat this may have been a significant factor in Community CU's andOmni CU's decisions to convert. Nevertheless, it is doubtful thatexpected financial gain was the sole factor in either of theirdecisions. Rather, I suspect that both credit unions also assessedtheir members' return on league dues and concluded that return tobe less than market value. As I watch the conversion crisis turnthe back stretch, I begin to view Community CU's and OmniAmericanCU's conversion motives with less skepticism than I do those ofso-called credit union leaders. The NCUA appears to be nitpickingby implying that members are too dull and hapless to find and thenunderstand disclosures printed on the back of page one. In the meantime, the TCUL constituent credit unions appear content to foster aboard that nurtures coat-holding politics over true leadership.Charles Hardage, CPA Member Amoco Federal Credit Union Texas City,Texas