Northern Savings Credit Union elected three new board members in May and approved a change to their rules as well.
Mimmo Ciccone was acclaimed to the board to represent the Prince Rupert area for a three year term, Rodney Cox was elected to represent the Terrace area and Trent Moraes was elected to represent the southern portion of Haida Gwaii. Ciccone and Cox will serve three year terms and Moraes will serve a two year term.
Board members provide guidance and oversight to the organization by determining strategic direction, setting policies and working with management to maximize financial performance, ensure compliance with regulations and representing member interests as stated on the credit union’s website.
Also voted on was a proposed resolution to change the rules of the credit union, including the composition of the board and the way board elections are carried out.
The change in rules reduced the overall number of board members from ten to nine and also reduced the number of directors from the Terrace area from three to one. Five persons from anywhere in the province may now be elected as “directors at large.”
“With the one seat per district allocation [Haida Gwaii (1 north, 1 south,) Terrace and Prince Rupert] each of the districts where the credit union has a branch will continue with at least one guaranteed seat on the board of directors,” reads the communication to shareholders, adding that the establishment of “at large” seats should increase member participation.
Fay Booker, interim chief executive officer for Northern Savings said that the geographic location of the membership shouldn’t exclude them from being able to become a board member.
“Our membership does move around,” Booker said, “So we want them to be able to run as a director regardless of where their account might be based,” adding that potential board members with experience in finance may not live within one of the districts with an allocated seat.
“If we have nobody with any kind of finance background [for the board,] we might want to make a specific notice out to the members that we’re really looking for someone with finance [experience], and we don’t want to say that person has to be in Queen Charlotte,” she said. “It makes it more flexible for the membership.”
The change also now allows for members to participate in board elections regardless of where they live. Before the rule change, members were only allowed to vote in the district they lived in.
“All members will have the opportunity to engage in the democratic process every year in which an election is to be held,” states the release.