Piggybacking on Sundie Seefried's letter ("Do Two-Thirds of Credit Unions Really Lack Relevancy Today?", CU Journal, Dec. 23), we also need to keep in mind the enormous political impact of small credit union volunteers and staff. Whenever I attend a Governmental Affairs Conference, whether state or national, the majority of the participants are from small credit unions, several often under $50 million in assets.
These are the people that know their legislators by face and name. They are outspoken. Their careers and credit unions are on the line.
I'll never forget meeting U.S. Rep. John Conyers. The first thing he asked us was which voting district we were from. He wanted to count the votes that depended on his listening to us.
Given that every credit union can muster at least seven volunteers for its board and committee, that's a lot of people who can tell Congressional representatives why they need to vote for credit unions.Small credit unions can send a lot of unpaid volunteers to state capitals and D.C.
More volunteers need to step up and go to their state and CUNA GAC events. They don't have to talk. Just let their lawmakers know they agree with the opinion of the league representative who is doing the talking. It's amazing how intently an elected official listens to a volunteer that speaks about hundreds of voters back home that feel like the volunteer does.
Phillip A. Matous, President
Total Community CU, Taylor, Mich.
