VANCOUVER, Wash. – The ongoing saga of the $700 million Columbia Community Credit Union appeared to draw closer to a close last week as, in two separate events, a Washington appeals court ruled against a members group and the members of the CU appeared to vote against the members group's positions at a special meeting.

The members group, Save CCU, had been formed in the wake of the CU's 2004 attempt to change its charter to that of a mutual bank and an attempt by the members to both recall the board members who approved the conversion attempt and fully discover the details of how the decision had been reached and how much it had cost.

Save CCU initially appeared on a winning course, almost replacing the then-existing board at a special meeting and then putting its own members on both the CU's board and supervisory committees in a series of regular elections. The group appeared to flounder, however, when three of its members that were elected to the board foreswore their membership in the group and appeared to throw in their lot with two remaining board members from the original board.