After a period of relative peace, it appears the board of the$1.23 billion Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union has againbegun to feud.

The 68,000 member credit union serves a primarilyPolish-speaking community in New York City as well as in the NewJersey suburbs and on Long Island. Over the years it has built astrong reputation for community involvement. Polish and Slavic haslaunched and maintained a generous scholarship program as well asoutreach to recent immigrants. However, Polish and Slavic has alsoearned a reputation for fractious governance with contentious boardfights that have wound up in court and has landed in significanthot water with the NCUA in the past.

The two most recent squabbles involve a member of the board whowas removed in October 2008 as part of what appears to be a rowbetween the credit union and its chief sponsoring organization.There have also been allegations that the board is trying tomanipulate the credit union's current elections.

The fight over the removed board member got under way in late2008, according to members of the credit union and NCUA documentsconcerning the dispute, when after a series of meetings from Oct.31 to Dec. 10, the board voted to remove Krystyna Myssura from theboard and declared her seat vacant.

Although Myssura, a New York State immigrant community liaison,had been first elected to serve in 2003 and had been twicere-elected, the board alleged several misdeeds as the reason forits decision. According to the board, Myssura had violated boardconfidentiality, her fiduciary duty and the credit union's code ofethics. Her ethics violations had involved, allegedly, wastingcredit union resources and improperly influencing other boardmembers, the board charged.

Myssura promptly took the board to state court and on Dec, 15,obtained an order preventing the credit union from filling herseat. She also appealed to the NCUA, which asked the court on June9 not to act until it had finished its review of the matter.

According to Myssura and other credit union members who objectto her removal, the ultimate cause of her removal was a politicalfight between the credit union and it's chief sponsoringorganization, the nearby Polish and Slavic Center.

The Polish and Slavic Center serves as a community, social andrecreation center and membership in it used to be necessary formembership in the credit union. But according to Jack Bakowski, aPolish and Slavic member who supports Myssura, a faction of theboard sought to add other, similar centers in other locations toPolish and Slavic's list of sponsoring organizations and, two yearsago, announced the credit union would stop passing on dues from itsmembers to the center.

Myssura contended she ran afoul of the board by being one of theboard members who questioned that decision and who asked to see thecontract between the credit union and the center, which the boardsaid Polish and Slavic had decided not to renew the yearbefore.

“I asked why we were no longer passing on the dues and to seethe contract that they said they had decided not to renew in 2003,but then they kept passing the dues on to the center for the nextfive years, so I don't know what was going on. I asked thequestions and kept on asking,” she said.

Bakowski suggested the move to cut off dues to the center mighthave been a political attempt to starve a former board member,Bozena Kaminski, of both power and funding. Kaminski in the pasthas been an outspoken critic of the current credit union board, andshe and her husband had been previously associated with a boardfaction. Kaminski is president of the center's executive board andhad not returned calls for comment as of press time.

Although Myssura's case seeking reinstatement through the courtsstalled due to the court's inability to find credit union boardmembers to serve, the case nonetheless ratcheted higher when, inJanuary, NCUA Region 1 office came down firmly on Myssura's side.It was inappropriate, the NCUA said, for the credit union board tohave removed Myssura and try to vacate her seat. Only credit unionmembers could do that, the NCUA said, through a special meetingcalled for that purpose.

Polish and Slavic did not reinstate Myssura, however, and theirintransigence has drawn a further rebuke from the agency, this timefrom NCUA General Counsel Robert Fenner.

After noting that current credit union law and regulation veststhe authority to remove credit union board members in the creditunion members themselves, Fenner noted that this incident makes upa worrisome trend for PSFCU.

“As represented by PSFCU's counsel this is at least the thirdtime a minority member of the PSFCU Board has been removed orthreatened to be removed by the remaining board members,” he wrotein his Sept. 4 letter. “This is a dangerous path for PSFCU Board,or any other credit union board, to tread as it serves to ignorethe wishes of the voting membership as well as potentiallyundermine the credibility of the entire election process.”

“The entire matter appears to rest on the fact that the currentmajority of the board simply does not agree with Ms. Myssura'sstyle, philosophy or methods of serving as director,” he added. “Ifthe board truly believes Ms. Myssura's alleged conduct warrantsremoval, they should call a special meeting of the membership andallow the members of the membership to decide whether to keep heron the board.”

So there the measure rested as of press time. Polish and Slavicdid not respond to phone calls or e-mails seeking comment, and thelast word on this particular fight may belong to Anthony LaCreta,the NCUA's acting regional director for Region 1.

“Until this matter is appropriately resolved, I intend toconsider the board's conduct in this matter
in connection with any supervisory activities
involving PSFCU, including any requests for approval or forbearanceby PSFCU,” LaCreta said in a letter dated Sept. 9.

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