ODESSA, Texas — Members of the $119 million First Basin Credit Union who are supporting a slate of new candidates for board seats pooled their money and hired a small plane to drag a banner encouraging member turn out over Odessa yesterday. The CU has scheduled the annual meeting where the voting will take place for the evening of April 15.

Letty Moreno, one of the members who organized the Save First Basin member group in opposition to the CU's proposal to convert to a mutual bank charter, said the members had hired the plane and chosen the time for its flight in the hopes of catching residents on the way out of church or to a meal out afterwards.

The banner read “First Basin Vote Tues! SaveFirstBasin.com,” according to the member group.

The members have also announced that they have taken the first step in litigating against First Basin's CEO, Shem Culpepper, and Annette Snowden, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Under a rule of Texas judicial procedure, parties are able to petition the courts for the ability to depose other parties in the chance that their depositions may be used in a later lawsuit. The CU has already employed the rule and will depose MorenoSave First Basin. Now the members are seeking to deploy the same approach against Culpepper and Snowden. and other organizing members of