Governance

Who decides things here, how they got the job, and how you remove them.

The board of directors

Nine members, elected by the membership, serving staggered three-year terms. They are unpaid. They are members like you — a retired principal, a contractor, a hospital administrator, a farmer — not finance professionals recruited for the role, which is a feature and occasionally a limitation.

The board sets policy, approves the budget, and hires and evaluates the chief executive. It does not approve individual loans.

How you get on it

Any member in good standing can stand for election. A nominating committee puts forward candidates ahead of the annual meeting, and members can also be nominated by petition — a route that exists specifically so the committee cannot be the only door. Elections are decided at the annual meeting, and every member has one vote.

Committees

Supervisory committee. Appointed by the board and independent of management. It arranges the annual external audit, verifies member accounts, and can — this is the important part — call a special meeting of the members, and suspend a director or officer.

Credit committee. Oversees lending policy and reviews appeals of denied loan applications. If a loan officer tells you no, this is who you can ask to look again.

Asset-liability committee. Management-level, responsible for the balance between what we pay on deposits and charge on loans.

The annual meeting

Once a year, open to every member. The financials are presented, the board election is held, and members can ask questions from the floor with the chief executive standing there. Attendance is usually modest and the right to attend is not.

Examinations and audits

An independent external audit each year, plus regular regulatory examination. Summary financial results are presented to the membership annually.

Complaints

Start with the branch manager, because most things end there. If it does not, it goes to member services and then to the supervisory committee, which does not report to management. Each step is a different set of eyes, which is the whole point of having three.