Stormy Meeting of the PSFCU
By John Czop
Those who visit the POLISH AND SLAVIC FEDERAL CREDIT UNION’s (PSFCU) web site will search in vain for a report about the stormy meeting that took place on Saturday afternoon 17 November 2012 at the Polish Cultural Foundation in Clark, NJ.
The triumph of transparency and democracy in action is the best way to describe this meeting of the PSFCU’s Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee with approximately 70 members of the PSFCU. As Polish America’s largest financial institution, the governance of the PSFCU is a matter of great concern for all Polish Americans. That is why Mr. Marek Wysocki, who served as PSFCU interim director from the Special Meeting in March 2012 until the Annual Meeting in May 2012, insisted on an audio/visual record of the proceedings of the 17 November Meeting, so all will be able to see the meeting on YOU-TUBE. All previous meetings of the PSFCU BOD with members, or open BOD meetings, have been recorded. The goal is to promote transparency and to involve more members in the active governance of their credit union. Unlike banks, which are governed by stock holders who vote their shares of stock; credit unions are governed democratically by their members each of whom has one vote without regard to the amount they may have in their accounts.
Breaking with the well established principal of transparency, the Chair of the BOD, Mrs. Marzena Wierzbowska, declined to continue the meeting if the members insisted on audio/visual coverage. At this point, one of the five members of the PSFCU BOD who attended the meeting, Mrs. Marzena Wojczulanis, well known for her willingness to talk truth to power in corporate governance disputes at the POLISH AND SLAVIC CENTER, declared that she is with the members and wants the meeting to go forward with audio/visual coverage. At this point, Mrs. Wierzbowska and Mrs. Kajetana Sawczuk withdrew from the meeting room.
The meeting continued with audio visual coverage. Members exchanged views on the petition, which is now being circulated among members, that asks the Chair of the PSFCU BOD to convene a Special Meeting of the members for the purpose of discussing and voting on resolutions which include those calling for the ouster of five members of the PSFCU BOD (Mrs. Marzena Wierzbowska, Elżbieta Baumgartner, Mrs. Kajetana Sawczuk, Mr. Krzysztof Matyszczyk, and Mr. Leon Kokoszka), and one member of the Supervisory Committee (Mr. Edward Pierwola).