CUNA News Now: Lafayette chair: Petitioners signed under false pretenses

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KENSINGTON, Md. (2/22/07)--The chairman of Lafayette FCU says the claims of petitioners seeking a board recall "are false and demonstrate a reckless disregard for the truth," and "may also be actionable."

Chairman Arnold S. Rosenthal, in an open letter to members posted on the Kensington, Md.-based LFCU's website, says the petition is false and has been "unnecessarily disruptive to the business of the credit union."

The petition is being circulated by opponents of the credit union's proposal to convert to a mutual savings bank. That proposal was withdrawn last month after a membership vote couldn't be certified due to the closeness of the vote and errors in the vote tallying process.

"This petition effort is a maneuver being perpetrated by about one dozen individuals out of our approximately 17,000 members. Nevertheless, we take this matter very seriously," wrote Rosenthal, who added that petitioners' claims that the credit union was unresponsive on technical questions and petitioners' demand to inspect certain records related to the conversion "are absolutely false."

He suggested that petitioners' requests were "ghost-written by non-members, including, we believe by an attorney working for a professional lobbying effort opposed to our credit union. Rather than accepting our repeated invitations to meet and discuss these issues, they responded with a groundless petition."

Rosenthal also suggested that members who signed the petition "did so under false and misleading circumstances" and that some petitioners were "interlopers" and not members of LFCU. He indicated that members were told a number of statements by petition solicitors that are "false and demonstrate a reckless disregard for the truth. They may also be actionable."

He noted the conversion was not about insider greed and that the board unanimously voted to not accept any compensation or stock benefits.

The credit union has already filed one defamation lawsuit against former CEO Bill Brooks Sr. and his son, Bill Brooks Jr. for their criticism of the conversion attempt.

News Now did not receive a response to a request for comment from the petitioners.



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	News Now LiveWire The Golden 1 CU, Sacramento, takes mega-banks to task with billboard ad campaign. Wed NN. 3 hours ago THe U.S. House Majority Leader has announced there are no votes expected in the House this week. 6 hours ago Vote for 2010 ICU Day Theme. http://www.cuna.org/icuday 8 hours ago The federal government is closed today due to continuing snow. CUNA's Washington office is closed. Its Madison, Wis., office remains open. 8 hours ago CUNA quoted in Wash. Post article on CU biz lending, "Credit unions seek larger share of business loans" http://tinyurl.com/yhtz33z 11 hours ago Sign up; more tweets... Lafayette chair: Petitioners signed under false pretenses KENSINGTON, Md. (2/22/07)--The chairman of Lafayette FCU says the claims of petitioners seeking a board recall "are false and demonstrate a reckless disregard for the truth," and "may also be actionable." Chairman Arnold S. Rosenthal, in an open letter to members posted on the Kensington, Md.-based LFCU's website, says the petition is false and has been "unnecessarily disruptive to the business of the credit union." The petition is being circulated by opponents of the credit union's proposal to convert to a mutual savings bank. That proposal was withdrawn last month after a membership vote couldn't be certified due to the closeness of the vote and errors in the vote tallying process. "This petition effort is a maneuver being perpetrated by about one dozen individuals out of our approximately 17,000 members. Nevertheless, we take this matter very seriously," wrote Rosenthal, who added that petitioners' claims that the credit union was unresponsive on technical questions and petitioners' demand to inspect certain records related to the conversion "are absolutely false." He suggested that petitioners' requests were "ghost-written by non-members, including, we believe by an attorney working for a professional lobbying effort opposed to our credit union. Rather than accepting our repeated invitations to meet and discuss these issues, they responded with a groundless petition." Rosenthal also suggested that members who signed the petition "did so under false and misleading circumstances" and that some petitioners were "interlopers" and not members of LFCU. He indicated that members were told a number of statements by petition solicitors that are "false and demonstrate a reckless disregard for the truth. They may also be actionable." He noted the conversion was not about insider greed and that the board unanimously voted to not accept any compensation or stock benefits. The credit union has already filed one defamation lawsuit against former CEO Bill Brooks Sr. and his son, Bill Brooks Jr. for their criticism of the conversion attempt. News Now did not receive a response to a request for comment from the petitioners. Resource Links Lafayette FCU More CU/System
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