Release of Renaissance report irresponsible

The appointment of a Renaissance Commission by CUNA is a forward looking management action; however, as reported in the July 11 issue of Credit Union Times, the output forwarded to the President of CUNA (Dan Mica) is a laundry list including many “visions” without evaluation, priority, weighing the relative sparseness of credit unions represented by each “vision”, minority opinions, etc. The commission report failed to recognize and accommodate the unique characteristics of credit unions. While the July 4 issue of Credit Union Times indicated that the Governmental Affairs Committee meets July 17 and 18 and will be prioritizing the “Commission’s recommendations” as per Mica’s request, sending the report in its present form to his “former colleagues on the Hill” was a serious disservice to the credit union community. Releasing the spurious analysis outside, without evaluation or consensus, is irresponsible. Regardless of the caveats that accompany a report like this, it is fodder for the less informed to use as representing credit unions’ opinions. Clearly, I agree that some of the “laundry list” would be supported by a large majority of credit unions, but too many items are the antithesis of the opinion of a preponderance of credit unions, even as a “vision.” CUNA should retract the report and halt further distribution until a credit union consensus of evaluated recommendations is formed and formalized. Tom Hughes VADm, USN (Ret.) Past President/CEO Navy FCU