ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Saying NCUA should not treat members of the credit union community as “Victorian era children,” NCUA Board Member J. Mark McWatters has reiterated his position that public hearings on the agency’s annual budget would lead to greater transparency and accountability.
McWatters also asserted that NCUA should “renounce its imperious ‘my-way-or–the-highway’ approach to the agency’s budget process.
The comments, which are a veiled criticism of NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz and Vice Chairman Rick Metsger, who have voted in opposition to a number of McWatters’ votes in recent NCUA board meetings, brought an unusual public rebuke from Matz after McWatters’ released a copy of his comments to the media.
“I champion the right of the regulated to speak to the regulator on the record regarding the expenditure of their limited resources,” McWatters said. “I reject the notion that budget hearings would merely constitute ‘dog and pony shows’ as a deeply cynical and flawed view. Speaking for myself, I would be honored to listen to and thoughtfully consider comments of the community on the budget and budgetary process. It's simply a matter of respect and professionalism evidenced through the lens of transparency and full accountability.”
McWatters made his remarks in a keynote address to an audience of 350 credit union officials at the Pennsylvania Credit Union’s Annual Meeting in Hershey, Penn.
McWatters said he supports bipartisan legislation pending in both the Senate and the House that would require NCUA to hold public hearings (HR. 2287, S.924).
“NCUA should not treat members of the credit union community as Victorian era children—speak when you're spoken to and otherwise mind your manners and go off with your nanny—but should, instead, renounce its imperious ‘my-way-or–the-highway’ approach and actively solicit input from the community on NCUA's budget and the budgetary process,” McWatters said. “With the strong visceral response within the agency against budget hearings, it seems that some expect masses of credit union community members to charge the NCUA ramparts with pitchforks and flaming torches to free themselves from regulatory serfdom. I, conversely, welcome all comments and criticism from the community.
'Step Down from the Ivory Tower'
“Regulatory wisdom is not metaphysically bestowed upon an NCUA board member once the gavel falls on his or her Senate confirmation,” McWatters said. “NCUA should not, accordingly, pretend that it's a modern day Oracle of Delphi where all insight of the credit union community begins once you enter the doors at 1775 Duke Street in Alexandria, Virginia.”
Responding to McWatter’s remarks, Matz suggested that “Professor McWatters would be better served by stepping down from his ivory tower and working with his NCUA Board colleagues to make policy, rather than make headlines.”