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SHOWN TO THE RIGHT, ARE THE CONTENTS OF THE 11/27/12 LETTER SIGNED BY PRIORITY ONE CREDIT UNION PRESIDENT, CHARLES R. WIGGINGTON, SR. IN COMPLIANCE TO THE TERMS OF SETTLEMENT AGREED TO BY THE CREDIT UNION AND A MEMBER WHO SUED THE CREDIT UNION, ALLEGING THEIR WILLFUL VIOLATION OF THE PRIVACY ACT.

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Saturday, October 31, 2009

Waiting to Be Rescued, Part 1

TAKING ON WATER


On Thursdays, one of President Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. few supporters wrote a comment criticizing anyone who posts comments on the blog, and resorting to the use of profanity, disparaged people who have posted comments and threatened to expose them. What we found interesting is that the person who was criticizing people for posting and threatening to expose their identifies, exercised his or her right to express their opinion. The hypocrisy didn't elude us. 

More than even the content of the message is the reaction of the poster which was extremely emotion and causing to wonder if the poster is a member of Priority One's deficient executive or managerial body. 

For those people who read and even post on this blog, there is no way that your identity can be identified. The President's supporter leveled a threat which was grounded in ignorance and amounts to nothing more than cheap theatrics and elementary manipulation. 

The folks at Blogger.com provided us with information about any poster's identity. 

"Anonymous comments should be okay. Commenters who might use their profile leave themselves as vulnerable as the amount of profile information included." .


THE SECOND ELECTION

Though we had not intended to write again, about Priority One Credit Union's second election which took place several weeks ago, we've decided to revisit the subject after recently obtaining a copy of the letter sent to United States Postal Carrier, Jeffrey Moses Chen, by Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks, in which she reminded him to complete the nomination application and return it to the credit union by June 24, 2009, the date of the deadline for all submissions. As we've also reported previously, President Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. and the Board Chair violated state law when they accepted Mr. Chen's completed application, several days after the deadline had come and gone. 

The contents of Mrs. Harris-Brooks' letter to Mr. Chen is shown below:

June 18, 2009

Re: Request to Run for Voluntary Position
Priority One Credit Union

Dear Mr. Chen:

This letter is in response to our acknowledgement correspondence and application package mailed to you on Tuesday, June 2, 2009.

To date, we have not received your application package for a possible seat on the Board of Directors of Supervisory Committee.

Unfortunately, you did not provide a contact phone number in your letter of request; therefore, we have not been unable to contact you to discuss the urgency of receiving your package timely.

If you are still interested in applying for one of the volunteer seats, we request that you forward your package to the address below by close of business Wednesday, June 24, 2009. if we do not receive your response by the due date, we will move forward with the election process.  

Priority One Credit Union
Attention: Nomination Committee
1631 Huntington Drive
South Pasadena, CA 91030      

Your immediate response is appreciated. 

Diedra E. Brooks (signature)
(Fr) Bobby Thomas
Chair, Nominating Committee


The Board Chair has never written to any member, reminding them to return their nomination. Serving on the Board or Supervisory Committee is s she wrote, voluntary thus there is no no need to remind a person that they should submit their complete application. The reason why Mrs. Harris-Brooks sent the letter was because she, the President and Director, Bobby Thomas, were perpetrating a plot to interfere with the electoral process. Unbeknownst to Mr. Chen, was just a tool by which they hoped to defer votes that could possibly go to former Director, David Davidson. What's more, the three had already begun telling associates and friends who are members, to vote for Mr. Chen. To described Diedra Harris-Brooks as being merely "corrupt" is a huge understatement. The Board Chair, like the President, has no concept of what ethical conduct entails and both possess a disdain for policies and laws. 

The President and Board Chair's violation of law is further attested to in the following announcement issued this past May by Mrs. Harris-Brooks to members:
Priority One Credit Union
Message to Members regarding the Annual Meeting

All members are invited to attend the Annual Meeting of Priority One Credit Union.

When: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.

Where:

Priority One Credit Union
South Pasadena Headquarters
1631 Huntington Drove
South Pasadena, CA 91030

At the Annual Meeting, the Board of Directors, Supervisory Committee and President/CEO will jointly report on the status of the Credit Union. As discussed further below, no unscheduled business will be conducted during the Annual Meeting. However, immediately following the adjournment of the scheduled business of the Annual Meeting, there will be a Question and Answer session for members.

As you know, the announcement of election results is generally held during the Annual Meeting. Recently, the Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee have become aware of concerns as to the distribution of the notice of vacancies to members. To this end, the Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee have considered that there may be members who were interested in being nominated to run for either: (a)the one(1) position on the Board of Directors, or (b) one of the two (2) positions on the Supervisory Committee. Each of these positions are for three (3) year terms. Consequently, in the interest of fairness for all, the Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee have determined it is appropriate to re-open the nomination and election process.

Accordingly, any member in good standing who is interested in seeking nominations for the above available positions on the Board of Directors or Supervisory Committee should request a nomination application from the Nominating Committee in writing to the following address:

Nominating Committee
P.O. Box 512195
Los Angeles, CA 90051-0195

All completed nomination applications must be submitted to the Nominating Committee at the above address no later than midnight June 8, 2009.

The Nominating Committee will consider up to three (3) members for each open position. Those not selected by the Nominating Committee will be allowed the opportunity to seek nomination process is complete, an election notice will be mailed to all voting members with the names of those persons nominated. Subject to there being more nominees than open positions, a written ballot will be provide to all voting members. If, on the other hand, there are no more nominations than open positions, then those nominated shall be deemed elected in accordance with the Bylaws.

Mrs. Harris-Brooks not only violated state laws, her acceptance of Mr. Chen's application after the deadline is clearly inconsistent with the statement in her letter that applications must be submitted "no later than midnight June 8, 2009."

What's more, Mrs. Harris-Brooks mailed her letter to Mr. Chen, ten (10) days after the deadline had passed. Evidently, Mrs. Harris-Brooks shares the same disdain to rules and laws so often shown by President Wiggington. With regards to her letter, how many times since she's been Board Chair has Mrs. Harris-Brooks sent a similar letter to any member?

It gets better.........

A few days after the letter was mailed, Mr. Chen visited the South Pasadena Branch. Arriving at the reception area, he loudly announced that he was there to submit his nomination. When advised the deadline had expired, he became irate and exclaimed, "Bobby Thomas said I could turn in my nomination!" 

Later, that same day, the giddy and over zealous President visited the Senior Vice President's office, exclaiming he was in possession of Mr. Chen's application. While walking through the Loan Department, he called Mrs. Harris-Brooks and loudly boasted that he'd received the nomination. For the dishonest President, violated state law and credit union policy was indeed something to be jubilant about

PARANOIA

Last Wednesday, at the request of Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks; the Board of Directors; President Charles R. Wiggington, Sr.; AVP, Rodger Smock; and COO, Beatrice Walker all convened for a "private" meeting at Carrows Restaurant in South Pasadena, California, to discuss how to bring an end to breaches of confidentiality racking the credit union. 

According to President Wiggington, the meeting was held off-site because he and the Board Chair "know" that the entire South Pasadena branch is saturated with electronic surveillance equipment planted by unnamed employees and which the two officers insist is the reason why information reported on this blog is so accurate. On a side note, no one was supposed to know the location of the "secret" meeting location but the President couldn't resist from disclosing its location. 

We thank President Wiggington for complimenting our reporting but haven't and don't intend to, invest in electronic surveillance equipment. We're surprised that despite having said he installed more than 18 new cameras in the South Pasadena branch, that none have been unable to video tape images of people allegedly placing electronic surveillance equipment throughout the branch. Does this mean he wasted more credit union monies purchasing cameras that are not functioning properly? 

The reason why cameras haven't recorded images of persons planting electronic surveillance equipment is because equipment hasn't been planted. The President's and Board Chair's excuse is just another example of need to concoct excuses that are borne out of their vivid and unfettered imaginations. The reason confidential information is finding its way to the Internet is because President Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. is an undisciplined babbler. Each day, he strolls through the various departments in the South Pasadena branch, loudly verbalizing highly confidential information that only a few people should be privy to. 

However, since July, the breaches of confidential information have actually increased. In recently months, COO, Beatrice Walker has been contaminated by the President and each day while visiting the cubicle of AVP, Yvonne Boutte, discusses highly confidential information in the presence of collection and call center personnel.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Last Thursday, President Wiggington, at the request of the Board, visited some of Priority One's branches. The reason for the visits is strictly damage control. The Board has grown tired of complaints that the President is estranged from all staffs at all branch locations. While visiting branches, the President stated he intends to start visiting postal facilities. 

Coincidentally, his agreement with the credit union is up for renewal on December 31, 2009, which might also serve as motivation to try and create an impression that he cares about employees though the visit, is uncharacteristic and the first effort made by him since being appointed President on January 1, 2007, to reach out to employees. The strictly public relations move is, in our opinion, disingenuous and it'll be interesting to see if the visit is a one-time even or if he will become a part of his monthly agenda. We believe it;'s a one-time occurrence. 

HENRY JUSTICE

Henry Justice, the infamous owner of the now defunct, Justice Auto Sales, who was once paid more than $80,000 by the credit union for vehicles purchased from his business by four former employees but who later refused to surrender the pink slips for each automobile, continues to appear on the credit union's list of preferred Select Employer Groups.

His continued inclusion can be attributed to President Wiggington. The two men were friends before Mr. Justice was introduced to the credit union by then Vice President of Operations, Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. And the two remained friends ever after Mr. Justice refused to surrender the pink slips. In fact, their friendship remained intact, even after the credit union filed a lawsuit against Mr. Justice in their effort to recuperate the monies paid to the dealer. And their friendship remained unaffected even after Mr. Justice filed bankruptcy and even after he obtained approval from the court which exempted him from repaying any of the monies. 

Apparently, their friendship was immovable because in late 2008, President Wiggington in defiance to credit union policies or without consideration of the impact of Mr. Justice's act, invited the dealer to his office in South Pasadena where they laughed and joked and renewed their relationship. A few days after their meeting, the President informed AVP of Lending, Patti Loiacano, that he was reinstating a working relationship with Mr. Justice, disclosing that Mr. Justice would be considered a "preferred" automobile broker and that all members hoping to buy a car, would be referred to Mr. Justice.  

We reported about the President's plans to re-introduce Mr. Justice to the credit union which caused the President to bring an immediate termination of his deal. The following our expose', the President made his way to the Loan Department and began retrieving business cards and fliers he'd personally distributed to every loan processor and officers. The following information was obtained from one of the business cards distributed by the President:
Long’s Auto Sales
455 E Carson Plaza Dr
Carson, CA 90746

We also located the following second address on the Internet, for Long's Auto Sales: 

Long's Auto Sales
451 E. Carson Plaza Drive, Suite 204
Carson, CA 90746
310-768-3506 
310-739-7206 Cellular
800-863-KARS (5277) 


UPDATE

The complaint filed with the Department of Fair Employment in Housing in 2008 by the former employee sexually harassed by President Wiggington, remains unsettled. 

As reported in previous posts, in 2008, the Board of Directors called the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, initially offering $20,000 to settle the complaint. This, by the way, occurred after Mrs. Harris-Brooks mailed a letter to the victim which informed her that sexual harassment as defined by federal law, never occurred. Mrs. Harris-Brooks also stated that findings showed the employee had encouraged the President's sexualized comments and that the victim had participated in sexual repartee. With this in mind, doesn't it seem peculiar that Diedra Harris-Brooks who concluded that sexual harassment never occurred, is also the same person who helped formulate the offer of $20,000?  The $20,000 offer presented to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing was immediately rejected by the victim. The Board responded by offering $40,000.  It would seem that Mrs. Harris-Brooks has as we've always contended, known that President Wiggington sexually harassed the former employee but terminating the President would have disrupted her hold over the credit union. 

On a related note, at the time Mr. Wiggington was spewing out sexualized commentaries and placing his hand on the victim's knees and thighs, he was in his 50's while she was in her early 30's. So what Mrs. Harris-Brooks has tried to do is convince us that the then 50-some year old man lacked the personal self-control to withhold his inappropriate and illegal sexualized statements. 

Though in the history of the credit union, no other President has ever been accused of sexual harassment, the punishment doled out by the Board was hiring a consultant to come and speak to ALL employees about what constitutes sexual harassment and how to respond to sexualized overtures. During the meeting, the cowardly President sat at the back of the room, surrounded by the Board Directors. It was an incredible and embarrassing display but neither Mrs.Harris-Brooks or any  of the Directors possessed the intellectual capacity to understand the impression they were making. 

SPENDING TO THE HILT

Priority One now describes itself as a "Financial Fitness Center" who possesses the ability to help members and employees win with money. It's quite a lofty proclamation from a credit union mired in the RED

to its members. In view of what the credit union's financials disclose, this indeed is a lofty proclamation.

One might think, that Priority One has stumbled into the Black. The Board authorized the spending of $74,000 of which, approximately $24,000 will be used to purchase new furniture; $50,000 will be spent on product development. 

During the May 2009 Annual Meeting, the President declared that he is "working smarter." Well, if terminating lower level personnel is his solution to the problems he created than there is nothing that can't be resolved by plopping off a few employee heads.  

The real problem lies in the hearts and minds of men. It is not a problem of physics but of ethics. It is easier to change the nature of plutonium* than change the nature of evil men (paraphrased).

Albert Einstein










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28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Remember when Chen came into the credit union. He sat and waited til Kim came out. Kim tried to explain to him the date for submitting nominations had pasted. In a loud voice he said I have a letter from Bobby Thomas. Kim looked over the letter and said ok. I'm glad Chen didn't win, the credit union has enough stupidness on the Board and Supervisory Committe. Wished Mr.Davidson had won a seat on the Supervisory Committee to help the credit union get right again.

Anonymous said...

As a postal employee, this blog has shown me this credit union is no longer the place for my money. I will close my account and encourage other postal employees to do the same.

Anonymous said...

I used to get mad when I read this blog, because I thought the persons were out to get Wiggington, but when I read emails sent by the dfi, see the financials, and read the letter from Diedra to the candidate, its horrible and they should all be kicked out so the cu can get back on its feet. Shame on you board and supervisor committee and most of all shame on Wiggington if he had any shame.

Anonymous said...

I remembr the member. He got pushy with the receptionist. I didn't know he was running for office. Glad he lost because the last thing the cu needs is another big mouth who embarrases everyone.

Anonymous said...

HOW CAN THE BOARD KEEP THIS MAN OVER MY CREDIT UNION? IS IT REALLY WORTH HAVING A 'BLACK' MAN IN CHARGE? THIS MAN HAS NO MORRALS AND IS A CROOK! GET RID OF HIM BEFORE THE CREDIT UNION HITS ROCK BOTTOM!

Anonymous said...

I want the board to show every reader that Wiggington has not lied to the dfi and that Diedra didn't do anything wrong. I want both of them to explain why they tampered with the first electin and explain why they let 1 candidate give them his nomination after the deadline. I want them to prove he didn't take the members car and he needs to prove that Mags wrote that letter which proved Liz kited.

Anonymous said...

On Friday Wiggington said a message is going to be posted inhouse on the intranet and that employees are not going to like the message.

Anonymous said...

If the board was smart, and they have proven they are not. They would kick wigington out and get someone else in.

Anonymous said...

Is there anyway to get a honest election? I vote for a third election, one done with an outside group.

Anonymous said...

"On Friday Wiggington said a message is going to be posted inhouse on the intranet and that employees are not going to like the message."

Wiggs big mouth strikes again! Does anyone wonder how things end up on this blog? Heres your answer, WIGGINGTON!

Anonymous said...

Wiggington, Diedra, and Cornelia stop acting like your still in the ghetto!

John M said...

They have a coo. Why do they need the uselsss amd lazy ceo?

TD said...

Its abuse.

Anonymous said...

The board and supervisors will never investigate Charles and Diedra they will try to cover up for them just like they would have done when the avp was reported for kiting. If Mr. Davidson files a complaint with the dfi I'd like to see how the cu explains Diedra's letter and how she excuses violating the deadline for the elecdtion.

Anonymous said...

The board is more embarrasing than Wigg.

Anonymous said...

Where did 174,000.00 come from? the CU is losing money but it can come up with money for furniture? If the CU is offering a former employee money that says this President is guilty of wrong doing.

Anonymous said...

$174,000 is not all they have spent. Each time you see those guys working on the lousy phone system they charge big hourly fees.

Anonymous said...

The problems at P1 are worse then what you report here. Wiggington's been meeting a lot with attorneys and with the COO and the Senior VP. The board isn't happy with him but they don't want to remove him because that would prove they screwed up and because he let's them get what they want because he now owes them. His mistakes have embarrased us but he is the reason employees suffer. They pay for everything he does and I blame the board. They are the most dishonest low class, ignorant people you will ever meet.

Anonymous said...

It took the the Board almost three years to figure out wiggs is an IDIOT? What does that said about them?

Anonymous said...

I've been following you for a few months. How do you get your information because its so true?

Anonymous said...

From what I've reading here it seems like 90 - 95 percent of the infomation here come from directly from Wiggington's mouth.

Anonymous said...

I, for one, know he used to go to the loan departemnt and member services department and talk about what employees were plotting against him and what Diedra told him, or who he was going to get. A lot of us just wanted him to shut up.If anyone else violated confidentialty like he does we would have been fired a long time ago.

Anonymous said...

What boss goes around other departments talking about employees he's going get? WHAT AN ASS! You poor, poor P1 employees!

Anonymous said...

Even sticking a shoe in his big mouth would not stop him from talking. He used to talk about the assistant branch mgr at Redlands saying he was going to get her and he said he was going to get Maggie and he was going to get Patti Lopez and he even said he would get Patti Loiacano and demoted her. Of course she got more knowledge about loans in her little finger then he has in his whole body. Who isn't he going to get?

Anonymous said...

Did anyone notice there were two election letters to Mr. Chan? One from Diedra and one from Bobby Thomas.

Anonymous said...

I should not come as a surprise that Wiggington and Diedra would do everything illegal because that's easier than being honest!

Anonymous said...

So does anyone know if Mr Davidson is going to file a complaint?

Anonymous said...

He should file but how many complaints does the dfi have to receive before they do something?

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