Tom Dorety, Suncoast
TAMPA, Fla.—Tom Dorety, head of the former CUNA System Structure and Government Task Force, is disappointed in the trade association’s decision not to accept the group’s principal recommendations, but hopes that the findings presented will eventually drive some change within CUNA and the leagues.
The CUNA board Friday announced that it opted not to accept two-of-the-three primary recommendations made by the Task Force and voted to make no change in the current membership structure in which a credit union belongs to both its state league and CUNA itself. Moreover, the CUNA board has also opted to maintain its current 24-member size.
The Task Force recommended credit unions be offered a choice of membership in CUNA and/or a league, and that the CUNA board structure should be streamlined to 15 members, with two classes based on the proportion of total CU memberships, each with six CU directors, and one class of directors comprised of three league presidents.
“Sure we were disappointed,” said Dorety, CEO of the $6.5-billion Suncoast CU. “We thought we did what was best for the future of the credit union system, and (the CUNA board) decided that in their opinion, that was not their best direction.”
Reporting To CUNA Board
Dorety told CUToday.info that he continually reminded the task force that they were reporting to the CUNA board of directors. Dorety is also a former chairman of the CUNA board.
“I told the team all along that the CUNA board would be the ones ultimately making the real decision—whether they take our recommendation on to the membership,” he said.
Dorety said he respects the board’s decision and position, saying he knew the board could make the decision it did.
Dorety said he felt the board closely considered the information, and that their decision to take another direction did not come easily.
“I do think they paid attention and took our findings seriously. I am comfortable that the board knows and respects me, and respects the Task Force, and would not take lightly what we presented,” he said. “I knew it was difficult decision, and I told them I knew it was a difficult decision, because we are talking about a major change in the trade association, certainly the biggest one ever considered. At the end of the day they decided that the downside was not worth the potential risk—whatever the risk was they saw—in going down that other path.”
But credit unions, increasingly, have been voicing their dissatisfaction with the CUNA/League structure, saying they want the ability to choose between joining either CUNA or the state’s league. That issue led to the $31-billion State Employees’ CU in Raleigh, N.C., to disaffiliate with CUNA and its league.
The Task Force found that satisfaction with the CUNA/League system is not very high, although it is higher for leagues than for CUNA.
Regarding the Task Force’s recommendation that credit unions be offered a choice of membership in CUNA and/or a league, Dorety said the team discussed the “risk and potential disruption” choice could have on the CUNA/League system.
“We knew that (disruption) was a possibility, but felt, in our judgment, at the end of the day the system would be stronger by taking this avenue. We thought it would facilitate the ability for CUNA and the league to be more inclusive, to have more accountability, and to get credit unions more engaged,” said Dorety, who added that the Task Force determined any disruption in the system caused by giving CUs choice would be short term. “We felt if CUNA and the leagues embraced this direction, in our opinion they would have been stronger for it.”
Jim Blaine, SECU
'Kodak Moment'
Jim Blaine, CEO of (North Carolina) State Employees’ CU, sees the decision threating the future of CUNA.
“I believe we have just witnessed CUNA's ‘Kodak Moment,’" said Blaine. “It's a simple lack of foresight or leadership – or both."
Blaine is largely credited with having brought much of the attention to credit unions having an option to belong to either their state or the national trade association, but not both.
Dorety hopes the report will drive some change within CUNA and the leagues.
“I believe CUNA knows there needs to be some changes and I believe they will use the report as a mechanism to drive change as they move forward,” said Dorety. “I think they accept some of our findings and analysis, and that the CUNA and league system needs to do a more effective job—they need to connect better with credit unions, ensure all parties are more interdependent, and work together.”