From the outside looking in, all seemed to be going well at Agricola Credit Union.
The credit union enjoyed profits of $20 million for its last fiscal year, it maintained a strong asset base of over $500 million and shareholders could expect their dividend payments as promised in the last annual general meeting.
There was just one issue, there was still a cloud over the credit union’s leadership.
In September 2021, the issue of leadership became contentious after former president Joshua Spencer was deemed unfit to stand for re-election at that time. He was asked to sit out the process for that term, but he refused.
This led to legal action, with Spencer filing an injunction in the High Court contesting the decision to have him omitted from the election process.
The election was left in limbo as a result, the credit union’s vice president Dr Arthur Potts was installed as interim President until the credit union could officially hold elections after the legal challenge was settled.
When the matter hit the high court, the judge eventually ruled that the matter should have been overseen by the Commissioner of Cooperative Development, who, in turn, started work on the mediation process between Spencer’s lawyers and Agricola’s legal team.
There appeared to be a breakthrough last December as an agreement was finally reached by the two legal teams, paving the way for elections to be held in February.
According to the website, Potts is still the president and chairman of the Agricola Credit Union.
Last December Potts held the Credit Union’s Annual General Meeting where he was able to report the financial status to members, however when the topic of elections was raised, he stated that the election was set to be held in February as had been agreed.
However, a notice was also posted to the website two weeks ago and sent to members stating that a new executive led by a new president had been installed.
The notice stated, “At a meeting of the Board of Directors on January 26, 2023, a new executive committee was elected as
follows:
• President: Lloyd Gellineau
• Vice-president: Arlene Young
• Secretary: Grace Arthur
• Treasurer: Lois Melville
• Assistant secretary/treasurer: Gerard Giuseppi”
The notice closed, “We thank members for their support and look forward to working together for the continued improvement of Agricola Credit Union. Please be guided accordingly.”
Potts explained that a group of directors called for a meeting to be held on January 26, 2023.
The meeting, he said, was reportedly related to loans, however, during that meeting, the group called for elections to be held immediately.
Potts dismissed that notion, stating it was not on the agenda for the meeting while he also stated that time should be given to allow for the membership to properly take part in the polls when they are held.
The Business Guardian was told that Potts ended the meeting, however, within a few hours he received a notice that a new board and president had been installed.
He said he had no problem stepping aside, but he was concerned about the manner in which the transition took place.
“Personally, I am comfortable not doing this work anymore because I am busy doing other things. I was only doing this because they had a problem with the previous president, and they asked me to hold on. But I just told them the way they did it was wrong,” said Potts.
A letter was written to the Commissioner by Potts concerning the turn of events.
On Monday, the Business Guardian was informed, the Commissioner ruled that the election held on January 26 was null and void and Potts and his team would remain in place until the substantive election took place.
The Commission’s letter stated, “the activities that were undertaken on January 26, 2023, at the joint committee meeting contravenes the society’s bylaws and therefore the decision taken therein is null and void.”
The Business Guardian reached out to Gellineau to get a comment on the situation.
He said at this time he was not authorised to speak on behalf of Agricola Credit Union to the media.
Gellineau however did wish to state,”I have been a member of the credit union for the longest while, and this is the first time I am seeing so much nonsense going on at the Credit Union.”
Gellineau added he did not wish to stir any controversy concerning the matter.
Potts however is still awaiting word as to what is the next step for the credit union following the commission’s decision.
He explained he was unsure if he is to simply proceed with the initial plan to hold elections in the coming weeks while he also had questions concerning what decisions may be taken regarding the executive that took the helm of the credit union for the past two weeks.
“They didn’t say anything about the status quo but if it’s null and void, it means that the credit union is supposed to continue to run as it has been run before. And going back to doing important credit union business according to deadlines and a calendar of events which includes a real election which was supposed to be held end of February, or early March. The question to me was, why all the rush when we had all these things to do?” asked Potts, who added he just wanted the get further clarity as to why the situation unfurled the way it did.
“I was just amazed. Because there wasn’t anything specific that the president did, or treasurer did that was so heinous that required some attention. As much as I don’t understand what happened, I wanted to have some clarity to ensure that my participation and involvement in assisting my credit union was just that and that whatever they did, it was wrong or right. From what I’m hearing, the Commissioner is saying according to our own bylaws, what they did is wrong,” said Potts.
The Business Guardian reached out to the commissioner to get answers concerning the future of Agricola Credit Union but did not get a response up to the time of publication.