LAS VEGAS-Brett Martinez would have been excused if he had completed his one-year term as chairman of the California Credit Union League by belting out John Lennon's hit: "Nobody Told Me."
Partial lyrics of the song include: "Nobody told me there'd be days like these. Strange days, indeed. Most peculiar, mama." Of course, those words pretty much sum up the experience of Martinez, who also is the president and CEO of Redwood CU in Santa Rosa, Calif. When he was sworn in to the post last November in San Francisco, no one knew just how bad things would get for the Golden State's economy and its CUs.
Still, Martinez insisted, this has been "a successful year for credit unions. We defeated mortgage cramdown and we had successes with the CARD Act.
"On the trade association side, the day-to-day activities had to change," he acknowledged. "(The California League) moved into a new facility to reduce costs and streamline operations. We re-did the budget to deal with deficits. It is easy to focus on how difficult it was, but I know my credit union will come out stronger and I think the credit union industry will come out stronger, also."
Wally Murray, president and CEO of Greater Nevada CU, Carson City, who will be serving another term as chairman of the Nevada League, said, "In spite of what some people think, it has been a pleasure to serve this past year as chairman of the Nevada Credit Union League. I think we sell ourselves short and don't remember all the achievements of the year."
First and foremost, Murray continued, "We didn't cause this mess. We don't just paint ourselves as white knights; we have proven it throughout our history. The credit union movement continues to have great integrity, and people know it."
New York
Jeff York, president and CEO of CoastHills FCU, Lompoc, Calif., said he has an advantage over Martinez in that he knows what he is getting into as the new California League chairman. Twelve months ago, he pointed out, no one knew for certain if the subprime lending crisis would spill over into the general economy, and certainly few predicted a worldwide downturn.
"At least we know it is a recession," he told Credit Union Journal shortly after being sworn in. "We've been through the carnage and we know."
York said the role of the CCUL chairman is to offer a "vision" for the league. He noted the biggest issues facing California credit unions are legislation and regulation, in addition to challenges to interchange, overdraft, systemic risk, CRA, mortgage cramdown, the new consumer protection agency, plus NCUA's proposed rules on corporate CUs.
"We have the tools to help communicate to lawmakers on our credit unions' behalf," he said. "We have 9,000 people signed up for our grassroots effort, Connect for the Cause, which is really good."
York's No. 1 goal for the year ahead: improve PAC contributions so "someday we can play offense" on the political front.
"Right now, we are just trying to get the ball back over the net. Our team does a phenomenal job and Bill [Cheney, president and CEO of the California and Nevada Leagues] is one of the most respected league CEOs in the country. I want to move the needle on political advocacy, I want to improve PAC contributions and I want to increase Connect for the Cause signups."
