Members Dump Incumbents From Columbia CUBoard

VANCOUVER, Wash. - (09/16/04) -- Three Columbia CU directors whonarrowly survived a recall vote last April after the board's failedattempt to convert Columbia to a mutual savings bank, and one otherincumbent, were overwhelmingly defeated for reelection duringWednesday night's annual meeting here, the first board electionsheld by the credit union in 25 years. Dissident members of thecredit union who organized the recall effort won the four seatsinstead, as well as three of the five seats on the credit union'ssupervisory committee, giving the group, Save Columbia CU, astrategic foothold towards their efforts to hold the boardaccountable for the failed conversion attempt. "I think the membershave spoken. They threw every one of their candidates out and votedevery one of ours in," Steve Straub, one of the leaders of SaveColumbia CU who won election to the board, told The Credit UnionJournal last night. Straub, who once ran Columbia CU as its CEO,said his group will field more candidates for next year's electionfor three board seats in its efforts to gain control of thenine-member board. He attributed his group's success to theircommitment to continue Columbia as a credit union and to focus onserving the members.