Community CU To Defy NCUA

PLANO, Texas - (06/10/05) -- Officials at Community CU aredisputing NCUA's ruling invalidating their vote to convert tomutual savings banks and vow to continue the vote, culminating in aJune 21 special meeting of the membership, in defiance of NCUA."We're going to hold the meeting. We've got tens of thousands ofpeople interested. We owe it to our members and we're going to doit," Robert Freedman, a Washington attorney representing CommunityCU., told The Credit Union Journal. Freedman, who has representedvirtually every one of the more than 30 credit unions that haveconverted to mutual savings bank, said officials at OmniAmericanCU, another credit union giant in the process of converting, alsoplan to proceed with their balloting and special meeting, despitethe NCUA ruling. Both credit unions have hired Washington lobbyiststo press their case in Congress. Community CU's President GaryBase, who has hired well-known thrift lobbyist Jim Butera, spentseveral days this week meeting with members of the Texas delegationto try to obtain support in their dispute with NCUA.