EUREKA, Calif.–Following a complaint to state regulators from a person who had sought a seat on its board, Coast Central Credit Union has posted on its website the vote counts from the last two annual elections for its board of directors.
Carrie Peyton-Dahlberg, who had brought the complaint to the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, told the Lost Coast Outpost, “This is a huge step, coming after months of refusing to disclose these numbers, and I commend the credit union and its board for releasing the vote tallies.
On its website, the $2-billion Coast Central CU, which has approximately 78,000 members, said the January 2024 vote tallies for the board of directors were:
- Matt Wakefield: 1,641 votes (73.1%), elected to a three-year term
- Terry Anne Meierding: 1,600 votes (71.3%), elected to a three-year term
- Ron Rudebock: 1,520 votes (67.7%), elected to a three-year term
- Dane Valadao: 1,346 votes (60.0%), elected to a one-year term for the remainder of a 2023 retiree’s term
- Carrie Peyton-Dahlberg: 1,174 votes (52.3%), not elected
‘Spirit of Transparency’
The site also includes results from the 2023 elections.
“In response to members requests at the annual meeting and in the spirit of enhanced transparency and goodwill, we have taken the additional step of posting the vote totals from the previous year on our website,” Chairman Ron Rudebock stated on the website. “We hope this action demonstrates our commitment to transparency and our dedication to addressing the concerns of our members.”
CEO’s Response
According to the Lost Coast Outpost, “For more than a year, James Sessa, president/CEO of the member-owned credit union, declined multiple requests from past candidates, their supporters and members of the media to release the 2023 numbers. Among those who asked, and were turned down, were James Kloor, who ran for the credit union board of directors on the ‘Members Voice’ ticket in January 2023, and Peyton-Dahlberg, who ran for the board of directors in January 2024.’
The publication further reported that during a question period after the Coast Central Credit Union annual meeting in February 2024, “several member-owners asked for more detailed election results, including listing the actual votes received by each candidate, rather than just providing the names of winners.”
The Lost Coast Outpost reported that in response, Sessa said Coast Central does not release vote tallies because it wants all elected board members to be seen as being on equal footing, no matter how many votes they received.
Two ‘Important Questions’
The day after that meeting, on Feb. 23, Peyton-Dahlberg filed her complaint with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, asking the state to require that the vote totals be released, the Lost Coast Outpost reported.
Peyton-Dahlberg had said in her letter to regulators that the vote totals, rather than just the names of winners, were important for two reasons: First, if the tally had been very close, it would have raised questions about how Coast Central handled its procedures for disqualifying votes based on signature discrepancies and, second, the board of directors needed that hard data on how member-owners viewed different candidates and their ideas.
Candidates Passed Over
The Lost Coast Outpost reported that a subcommittee of the board considered two candidates, among others, for appointment to several board vacancies that arose later in 2023, and the candidate selected had received 255 fewer votes than the other candidate, who had run on the “Members Voice” slate.
That same candidate was also passed over on two other occasions, according to the report.
“In her complaint to the state, Peyton-Dahlberg argued that making these appointments without knowing the vote totals of all applicants violated the board’s duty to act in the best interests of its member-owners,” the Lost Coast Outpost reported.
In his letter, Chairman Rudebock wrote that the appointment subcommittee relies on “a comprehensive understanding of the qualifications and contributions of each candidate and the talent gaps within the board to make informed decisions, rather than solely on the number of votes they received,” according to the report.
‘Moving in Good Direction;
Peyton-Dahlberg told the news outlet, “Coast Central is moving in a good direction, including releasing these numbers, putting 2024 election reminders in each branch and making sure that its ballots were sent in clearly labeled envelopes. All of these are big improvements over the January 2023 election, and I hope this is starting a new trend. Bit by bit, if member-owners stay involved, we can encourage Coast Central to move further down this path of listening to the people who own it.”
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