True to his style, John Annaloro was too modest (“Some Parting Wisdom CUs Shouldn’t Part With,” CU Journal, Oct.8), but for those of us who had the privilege to work with him, his departure is a huge loss for credit unions.
John’s management style was different; his approach to problems was different; and his vision was different–that’s what made him such an invaluable leader. During my time on the NCUA Board, John was always willing to give me an honest assessment of where he thought credit unions needed to be and how they needed to get there. And he wasn’t shy about letting me know how myself and my fellow NCUA Board members were doing in conjunction with the overall direction of the movement.
When I arrived at the Federal Housing Finance Board, one of the first calls that I received was from John. His knowledge of the Federal Home Loan Bank system as well as the Seattle Federal Home Loan Bank was amazing, and he had some “suggestions” about the role of FHLBs with credit unions and some big-picture scenarios of how the Home Loan Banks could help credit unions and vice versa.
It was true John Annaloro–he never stopped thinking, and he was always strategizing about the next big issue.
As I mentioned, he was being modest so I just wanted credit union folks to know that I am hoping that John gets this “retirement” out of his system and gets back to work making the credit union movement the dynamic place that it can become.
Geoff Bacino, Principal
Bacino & Associates, Washington
