The Mouth that Ate Priority One

Unbridled Verbosity

Have you ever seen those plastic wind-up teeth that when wound, move across a flat surface, chattering incessantly? That's what its like to be forced to endure the daily non-business related ramblings of Priority One Credit Union's President, Charles R. Wiggington,.Sr. Each day at the credit union's main office in South Pasadena, California

while employees work, the President stops off to jabber about the same stale topics- his allegedly above-average intellect, his profound skills as President, and most often, he talks about subjects that are deemed highly confidential. 

Despite his uncontrollable verbosity, Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. is not an interesting speaker though that's probably because the scope of what he has to say is extremely limited and always about the same thing. 

We thought it only appropriate to share SOME things that the President has talked about over the past 4 years that make Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. what he is. 

October 2005

While speaking to the Real Estate Loan Officer, he recounts how while at the home of the Director of Human Resources, Rodger Smock, he noticed a frame photograph of a former employee named Henry Campos atop Mr. Smock's nightstand. Mr. Wiggington states that Rodger Smock is a homosexual and laughingly describes him as a "sissy." 

April 2006

The President mocks the Real Estate Loan Officer, the same woman he's sexually harassed for years and in front of her co-workers, accuses her being attracted to Director, O. Glen Saffold. He exclaims loudly "You like Saffold. You want him. Leave Jenny's (Generis Kirby's) man alone." 

June 2006

Mr. Wiiggington explodes into a rage when he learns that the Board of Directors has asked President William e. Harris remain at the credit union to at least, the end of the year. He calls the Director of Human Resources, Rodger Smock, and the CFO, Manny Gaitmaitan, into his office and complains about the Board's request. He had been told months earlier that Mr. Harris would be retiring in June 2006 and had been lobbying to be named the President's successor. 

Wednesday August 16, 2006: About a Member

While a young and attractive member walks through the lobby of the Loan Department in South Pasadena, an excited Mr. Wiggington enters the cubilcile belonging to Director of Lending, Aaron Cavazos, and though  the Director is in the midst of a meeting, Mr. Wiggington leans over his desk an says audibly, "Man, oh man, I'd sure like to hit that ass. Look at that ass!"

Monday, May 14, 2007

While on the phone, speaking to officer, Karen Burgon of the Riverside office, M. Wiggington becomes incensed when Ms. Burgon informs him that the instruction he's just provided is incorrect and not consistent to credit union procedure. After conclusion of the call, he states, "I'm gonna get that woman. You'll see."  

June 16, 2007 

Lead Consumer Loan Officer, Georgina Duenas, conveys a meeting with the Loan Department staff during which she informs them that President Wiggington is displeased about how trash is being discarded into employee trash cans. She states that on June 8, 2007,  the President conducted a meeting in the Board Room during which he told managers and leads that an audit of the company's procedures had revealed that some documents being thrown into employee trash cans contained confidential member information. 

He also held up a photograph of the alleyway located behind the South Pasadena branch which had been taken by the credit union's security camera and showed an image of a man scavenging through the credit union's large metal bin. He told attendees that the man was searching for information about credit union members though no one asked the man what it was he was searching for. It was pure conjecture based on what the President believed to be true. 

Incensed that employees were discarding documents containing confidential member information, the President ordered that all trash including metal soda cans, Styrofoam cums and any other materials intended to be discarded, be placed in recycling bins. When informed that the cans were only to be used for discarded recyclable materials, he angrily replied, "Fuck them (the company which provides the cans). If they don’t like it, we can go with another company.” 

Thursday, July 19, 2007: 

Board Director, Joe Marchica calls the South Pasadena branch to schedule an appointment to meet with President Wiggington to discuss some of the acts the former Director of Marketing had been subjected to. 

Later that day, while walking with Rodger Smock through Credit Resolutions, the President complains loudly that he does not wish to meet with Mr. Marchica and insists that his administrative assistant could have made more of an effort to send Mr. Marchica away. 

Thursday, July 26, 2007

While standing in the lounge room speaking to Assistant Vice Presidents, Dane Simmons, the President tells a story of how during a recent business trip to Chicago just a few days earlier, he danced with a “fat 25 year old woman” who he insisted, “she wanted it man. She really wanted it.”

Friday, October 19, ,2007

The President tells the Loan Officer, Sonia Villa, "Oh come on, don't tease him", referring to Director of Lending, Aaron Cavazos. "I like him. He reminds me of when I was younger. A real go getter. He sets his goals and accomplishes them." He continues, describing Mr. Cavazos as a man who always provides for his family.

The comments contradict disclosures made over the years in complaints filed about Mr. Cavazos which accused him of abusively harassing staff, of sexual harassment, retaliating against employees he said did not like him, of returning to work inebriated following 2 and 3 hour lunch periods, and of using his office in South Pasadena for personal business. 

Though in 2006, the President ignored the complaints and promoted the Director to Assistant Vice President of Operations, in 2008, following an argument, the President used the complaints filed over the years to terminate Mr. Cavazos.  

December 31, 2007

Languishing comfortably on a loveseat located alongside the VISA Card Specialist's desk located in the Loan Department, President Wiggington, Sr. loudly complains about former Card Specialist Whitni, who recently transferred to the LAPDC to serve as Lead Loan Teller.

He laughingly recounts how Whitni once complained that she was over-worked and her work had become backlogged. She asked her supervisor, Aaron Cavazos, for assistance but he refused to assign anyone to help her. The President and says that Whitni told him, "I am so stressed I had to go see a shrink!"

The President states that because she had been the subject of numerous complaints over the years that he was forced to "put her in her place." 

The new Card Specialist asks why if Whitni's performance were that unsatisfactory, then why did he approve her transfer to the LAPDC and her promotion to Lead Teller.

The President pauses momentarily and says, "I admit that was a mistake. I feel like calling Lynnette and telling her about it" adding that what he liked about Whitni was her "aggressiveness."

The Director of Marketing

In August 2007, while languishing comfortably in the Consumer Loan Department, the President wove a tale while 5 loan processors and officers sat within hearing difference about how earlier that year, he was visited in his office by AVP, Liz Campos. During their meeting, Mrs. Campos allegedly complained that the Marketing Director was "out to get me." He said that he knew that the Marketing Director had never liked Mrs. Campos. 

He also disclosed that he knew for a fact that it was the Marketing Director who mailed the anonymous letter about Mrs. Campos' checking account abuses, to Board Director, David Davidson. Mr. Davidson delivered the letter to the credit union's attorney, William Adler, who afterwards contacted the Board and ordered an investigation of Mrs. Campos' Priority One accounts. An investigation and audit conducted by in-house Auditor, Sonny Pinat, disclosed Mrs. Campos had been kiting- a federal offense. Furthermore, it was discovered that she used checking accounts from three financial institutions, including Priority One Credit Union, to violate federal law. 

The President's tall tale suggests he is more than a little daft. The fact is, he had no evidence proving the Director of Marketing exposed his hand-picked AVP of kiting. His story reveals that President Wiggington is a man who can't at all comprehend the gravity of the acts committed by Mrs. Campos. He is obsessively focused on the anonymous individual who wrote the letter. What's more, from his story, it is the person who exposed the violation of federal law who is the villain in his little tawdry story distorting what actually transpired. Could it be the President lacks the emotional stability to accept the fact that one of his AVP's violated federal law? Is it so unpalatable to his sensibilities to accept that his AVP commented more than 24 separate NSF incidents to her Priority One checking account during the months of September and October 2006? Did President Wiggington forget or intentionally erase from his memory that he authorized the reversal of each NSF fee incurred by each of Mrs. Campos' abuses? 

Furthermore, it was the Director of Marketing who submitted a recommendation to former President, William E. Harris, which resulted in Mrs. Campos promotion from Business Development Representative to Branch Manager of the  Burbank office.

What evidence did the President have that proved the former Director of Market composed the letter sent to the Board's Director? Absolutely nothing. President Wiggington is not a man who wishes to inconvenienced with something like evidence. Over the years, whenever he received complaints that an employee violated policies, he bypassed obtaining evidence and immediately sought to implement disciplinary measures. 
  
And why would the alleged defender of credit union policies sit on a loveseat and divulge highly confidential information to the VISA Card Specialist that she should not have been privy to? And why did he deem it appropriate to verbalize loudly in the presence of 5 members of the Loan Department? 

It's important to remember that the President is a man who rarely tells the truth, often avoids accountability when exposed, and addictively needs to delve out scapegoats for his horrendous decisions and inappropriate statements. 

January 4, 2008

During January 4th, President Wiggington could not refrain from spending the day sharing his disparaging opinions about some of the credit union's past staff members. While conducting what should have been a closed door meeting, President Wiggington told AVP, Patricia Loiacano, he stated that he was selected to President and CEO because "I played the game and won" and "I beat the others. Where are they and where am I?"

His statements disparage the Board of Directors who admitted they selected him because of what Priority One "needs a Black President." The fact is, the Board should have been colored blind and their reasoning for choosing Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. was absurd and smacks of racism. The President statements suggest the Board is so unintelligent that the easily manipulated each Director because in his words, he "played the game and won." 

The President also admitted to Mrs. Loiacano that he terminated the former Director of Marketing because she "complained about Liz Campos." and continuing to speak abou the former Director of Marketing, he arrogantly asked, "The one who complained [about Mrs. Campos] isn't here anymore. Do you see her?"

What President Wiggington failed to state during his bragging session is that Mrs. Campos was found guilty of kiting and thus, violated federal law, She should have been arrested, booked and prosecuted but for some reason, the gabby President failed to mention this. 

About Former President, William E. Harris

Later, that same day, while lounging on a love seat located alongside the VISA Card Specialist's desk and while the Loan Department staff were all president, The President criticized his predecessor, William E. Harris alleging that Mr. Harris was "always jealous of me" and describing his predecessor as "old school" and lacking the vision that would carry Priority One into the future. 

We can't imagine anything that Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. possesses to be jealous of. Can you? I can't be his ghettoization of the English language. I certainly isn't his hygiene. And its certainly not his keen abilities as a strategist. Does he believe people are jealous of his sexual escapades he once bragged about on a daily basis until an investigation proved he sexually harassed a former employee? The President should know that no one at any branch has ever believed his stories about sex. 

Under Mr. Harris, the credit union consistently grew in size and in membership. He introduced technologies and Priority One was a credit union for offering quality products and services. Why then, would Mr. Harris ever feel even slightly jealous of an uncouth officer who in 2008 was found guilty of sexual harassment?

President Wiggington is a man whose personal habits are an embarrassment and include the public scratching of his genitalia or his enunciation which caused him to pronounce Indianapolis not Annapolis! By the way, its Toyota not Tajota.

While speaking to the Card Specialist (and the entire Loan Department staff) he described the merger with Inland Counties Postal Credit union as "a mess" and "bad move" orchestrated by his predecessor and said that the had spent months and months “trying to clean up Harris' mess.” Why did should the VISA Card Specialist have been privy to this information?

About Lynnette Fortson, AVP

The President also disclosed that he recently decided to prohibit the AVP of the Los Angeles and Airport branches, Lynnette Fortson, from accessing PEMCO but chose to return it to her “to keep her mouth shut” and avoiding listening to her complain for "taking (PEMCO) it from her and having to listen to her complaints is more trouble than it’s worth."

About O. Glen Saffold, Board Member

He expressed his disdain for Board Director, O. Glen Saffold who in his words, "had the audacity" to advise that the President "to dress more like a CEO." He described Mr. Saffold as "having some nerve" and said Mr. Saffold should focus on his own fashion and added that Mr. Saffold is "useless." 

We don't disagree with Mr. Saffold. His advice was sound. What we disagree with is Mr. Saffold's hypocrisy and his constant racist declarations that "the White man is the cause of all of the Afro-American community's problems. We also advise that the self-proclaimed Christian take an introspective at his beliefs because we're certain that supporting the illegal acts perpetrated by and under Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. is a violation of t he commandments upon which his spiritual beliefs are allegedly based. 

Thursday, February 14, 2008

The President recounted an incident that occurred during a receent visit to the home of Senior Vice President, Rodger Smock. While in Mr. Smock's bedroom, located on the second floor of his home, the President noticed a framed photograph standing atop one of the Senior Vice President's night stands. The photograph was of  former FSR, Henry Campos. 

The President exclaimed, "I don't get the guy (Rodger Smock). Can you believe him and his lifestyle? 

The only question we have is, what was the President doing in Mr. Smock's bedroom?

February 2008

While visiting Rodger Smock's office, the President tells the Senior Vice President that earlier that day, he received a telephone call from Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks, and informed him that though Director, Fernando Kelley, lost the recently held election, she was going to try and reinstate him as a non-voting member. He laughingly declared that this was a wonderful plan that would personally, help him out. 

February 2008

Senior Vice President, Rodger Smock, informs President Wiggington that Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks, has ordered that all advertising mock-ups be submitted to her for review and approval before these are sent to the credit union's contracted printing company. Irked, the President says, "Diedra is an ass. She can't tell me what to do!"

November, 2008

During a credit union luncheon, President Wiggington tells some of his staff that while in his early 20's, he and a friend went to a night club. Later that evening, they returned to his apartment with three women in tow. One of the women, "a fat girl" took Mr. Wiggington by his hand and "dragged" him into the bedroom." While he and the woman had sex, his friend and the other two women left the apartment because, according to the President, "they felt uncomfortable." He tells the employees who were forced to listen to his story that the experience taught him that "fat women are good in bed" and "always grateful.”

To describe President Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. as merely incorrigible is a huge understatement. The highest officer of the credit union has proven time and time again that he is uncouth, vulgar and clearly, not what any company should ever want in a President. 

There's no argument, the man has issues- many personal issues. There is some disturbing about a man who continually feels a need to talk about the most confidential and personal subjects. He is a brute who forces his staff to listen unendingly to his distorted opinions and perverse stories. 

His disclosures are also a clear violation of credit union policies and his statements are fodder for gossip which nowadays rages across the once thriving credit union. Maybe if he focused on resolving the many problems he's intentionally and unintentionally created. Choosing to act as a dictator and not an elected officer is what differentiates President Wiggington from other Presidents. Clearly, he's exceeded his appropriated authority. What's more, its difficult if not impossible to understand why the highest officer of the credit union deemed it appropriate to stretch comfortably across a loveseat and divulge highly confidential information about credit union personnel to the VISA Card Specialist and in the presence of 5 members of the Loan Department. Should he be subjected to disciplinary actions described under policy? Yes, of course. 

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