VANCOUVER, Wash. -
Cathryn Chudy, a therapist at a local hospital, said she believes the placing of the letters on nearly every window of the front and rear of her house was the work of people still angry over her involvement with the "Save Columbia Credit Union" group, which remains active.
Save Columbia Credit Union was founded in 2003 when the CU's management attempted to convert it to a bank. That led to a highly publicized divide in the community, including a packed high school gymnasium at which the board narrowly survived a recall and extensive newspaper coverage. Columbia CU eventually dropped its bid to become a bank.
Chudy, who joined Columbia CU in 1997 on a family member's recommendation, joined the credit union's board in June 2005 as a representative of the Save CCU group. She was removed Aug. 15, 2006, reinstated that September by a court order, then voted out Nov. 15, 2006 at a special meeting.
"The meeting was called specifically to remove the three of us (Save Columbia Credit Union members who were on the board)," she told the Credit Union Journal. "When we were removed, the message was really controlled by the credit union. It was disheartening, but I felt I lived through it, until now."
The vandalism took place some time between 7 a.m. June 1 and 2 p.m. June 2, while Chudy was at work. The culprits used an unknown white substance to deface the windows. Neighbors did not witness anything. Chudy has filed a police report.
"Someone had to do some detective work to find me," she said. "It has to be linked to the animosity generated last fall when the credit union management and majority board ran a campaign to remove us. There were a lot of people very angry at that time. This is a big question mark as it has been a long time since it all happened. Our group still meets monthly, but we haven't done anything lately that would lead to this sort of thing."
Chudy said she has tried scrapers, razor blades and a number of solvents in an attempt to remove the message from her windows. Most of the white substance comes off, she reported, but it leaves a filmy residue. "If the windows are damaged, I'll have to replace them," she added with a sigh.
Chudy was part of the original group opposed to conversion in 2003. She recalled three months of "controlled message mailings to the members," followed by a meeting to vote for conversion. "So many people showed up, they had to open a second room at the hotel," and the membership voted against converting to a bank.
"We still feel glad we forced the credit union to pull back from conversion," she declared. "The reason we believe conversion nearly happened was there was not full disclosure to the members. People can be persuaded to walk down just about any path if you control the message. We said the credit union should not endorse candidates, and if an issue comes before the members, it should be fair and balanced."
Officials at Columbia CU did not return phone calls at press time.
