VACU Member-Owners File Grievance with NCUA over exclusion from Board of Director Election

RICHMOND, Va. - March 10, 2022 - PRLog -- In order to ensure that incumbent directors are re-elected, VACU blocked four reform challengers (Frank Moseley, Kati Hornung, Richard Walker and Tori Jones) from running for the board in the member elections scheduled for March 23rd, taking away the right to vote from its member-owners. (Find out more about the candidates at https://tinyurl.com/VACU-Candidate-Bios.)

Today, board candidate Frank Moseley of Richmond filed a grievance with the federal regulator, NCUA, asking them to set aside the March 23rd election and order VACU to conduct a new election with all candidates on the ballot. The complaint further requests that NCUA conduct ongoing monitoring of VACU's adherence to governance reforms. The full complaint text is online at https://tinyurl.com/VACU-NCUA-Complaint.

Richard Walker, founder and CEO of Bridging the Gap in Virginia said, "I'm a longtime business member of the credit union. I felt downright disrespected that the board did not even interview me when I applied to run. They already knew who they were going to 'elect,' never mind the members."

Mr. Moseley, the founder and CEO of the SEED Initiative, said, "We're calling on the board of directors to do the right thing here, and we're asking the National Credit Union Administration to help make sure they do. VACU needs to delay the March 23rd election long enough to hire a neutral 3rd party to conduct a real election, with all candidates on the ballot, and provide proper notice to members so that we can have a free and fair election this spring."

Tori Jones, wellness advocate and social entrepreneur added, "This isn't hard. Other credit unions mail out notices to their members saying, 'These are the candidates the board is nominating, and if other members want to run, here's how many signatures you need on the petition – and then you're on the ballot.' NCUA's sample bylaws specify a maximum of 500 signatures. That's not even a right that VACU's board wants members to have."

Board candidate Kati Hornung is the co-founder and Executive Director of VoteEqualityUS, a national grassroots effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. She said, "When VACU directors start hearing from members about this, they're going to do the right thing. That's why we need VACU members to show the board they're paying attention by signing the petition at https://tinyurl.com/WeOwnVACU. Sunlight is the best disinfectant." She added, "It's time to get organized. They can ignore some of us, but they can't ignore all of us. We own it."

Press Conference: Friday, March 11th at 12pm EST

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89039053221?pwd=bDRwOERTYWFlQ29mckl4aVlqWS9qZz09

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