Since its founding in 1979, Central Coast Credit Union has grown to become the region’s largest member-owned financial institution, with more than 76,000 members and 11 branches in Del Norte, Humboldt and Trinity counties. Photography by Andrew Goff.
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After nearly a decade without a contested election to its board, Central Coast Credit Union is in the midst of its second race in the past two years. Ballots have been sent to the financial institution’s 76,000 members, who will have the opportunity to decide who will represent their financial interests on the board.
Coast Central holds elections at the beginning of each year for three of the nine seats on the board, but until recently, incumbents of those positions regularly won re-election by default because they were the only candidates vying for available positions.
That changed last year when three first-time candidates, dubbed the Members’ Voice slate, challenged incumbents for a seat on the board for the first time in nine years.
This year, five people are vying for four open seats, including Terri Ann Merding, Ron Rudebock, Matthew Wakefield, Dane Valadao, all endorsed by the nominating committee, and first-time candidate Carrie Peyton Dahlberg.
When asked why she decided to run, Peyton Dahlberg, a former correspondent for The New York Times, said: Sacramento Beeeditor North Coast Magazine The co-founder of the Humboldt Journalism Project said she was inspired by the Members’ Voice slate, which called for increased member engagement and broader community investments during last year’s election.
Peyton Dahlberg | Contributed
“As I looked at the application process, I realized that I could really bring things to this board that I think the board would find helpful,” Peyton Dahlberg said. Outpost In a recent phone interview. “I’m not running against any one director — although the voting members will have to choose from among us — I’m just running on some ideas. … I think (Coast Central) is a good credit union, and it can be improved … with fairly small tweaks.”
If elected, Peyton Dahlberg said she would like to reshape what the annual membership meeting looks like to better accommodate member participation. “Let’s have Coast Central hold at least two meetings a year where members can ask the board questions and suggest board actions.”
One specific area that could be improved is the organization’s fee structure, she said.
In 2022, Coast Central collected $4.78 million in overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees, according to a report from the state Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. These fees accounted for more than seven percent of Coast Central’s total income. The same report includes information for Compass Community Credit Union, Redwood Capital Bank, and Tri-Counties Bank, all of which collected less than two percent of their gross income from overdrafts and non-sufficient funds fees.
“Frankly, overdrafts and insufficient funds fees generally end up being taken away by people with other financial problems,” Peyton Dahlberg said. “If these fees are disproportionately high, does that mean that, as an institution, you fire people when their prices go down? … I don’t know what the arguments are for keeping them high.
Coast Central donates hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants and scholarships each year. Since 2008, Coast Central has awarded more than $2 million in grants — ranging from $3,000 to $25,000 per applicant and up to $150,000 in each semi-annual round of funding — to local nonprofits through the Its community investment.
“They sound like great projects, but I would like to hear from members about how they evaluate the importance of providing more community grants in the context of various other expenditures and revenues in Coast Central,” she said.
Peyton Dahlberg also spoke in favor of changing Coast Central’s election and campaign rules to “allow for more discourse” between candidates and members. Under current guidelines, candidates may submit a candidate statement of 250 words or less. However, formal campaigning is “strongly discouraged,” according to campaign and petition rules:
In the interest of fairness and diplomacy among all volunteer candidates for elections to the Board of Directors or Supervisory Committee, formal and/or publicity campaigns for the candidates are conducted through organized rallies, traditional and non-traditional media sources, promotional literature in brochures produced by the candidates, flyers, newspapers or social media advertisements. Or etc. or through radio, television or electronic communications is strongly discouraged. Marketing materials use of the Coast Central Credit Union logo is prohibited.
“I’ve been told that the rules in the last election were much simpler, and they didn’t include this part about strongly discouraging campaigning,” Peyton Dahlberg said. “This rule has the potential to do a lot of harm to credit union members. Once I learned about it, I became very interested in changing it.”
the Outpost I obtained a copy of the election guidelines provided to last year’s candidates, and there is certainly nothing in them that discourages formal election campaigning.
“I can’t say that last year’s election caused this, but I can say that last year’s election happened first and then this happened,” Peyton Dahlberg said, noting that correlation does not necessarily indicate causation. “I actually talked to a board member who said part of the motivation behind (the new rule) was that the board didn’t want some people with big money to come in and buy a bunch of full-page ads… and basically use the money to buy a position to change Bank policy.”
If that’s the case, she said, creating a rule limiting campaign spending would be more effective than limiting what candidates are allowed to share with Coast Central members.
“The potential harm is (that) members can’t hear the ideas… and I’m really concerned about low-information voters,” she continued. “Maybe there’s one thing that a member really cares about, and a candidate thinks, ‘Oh, I only have 250 words to describe the things that are most important to me, and I also love this thing, but it’s not a good fit.’” If the candidate doesn’t have another chance or Discouraged from using any other networking opportunities, that member will never know that this candidate may be a perfect fit for what they are interested in.
She added that candidate information should be made available at every Coast Central branch. After the election and counting of votes are completed, “members shall have access to the final vote count.”
“At the moment, Coast Central is only naming the winners,” she said. “In the last election, there were seven people competing for three seats. The names of the three winners were announced, but the numbers for who received how many votes were never announced. This became relevant later in the year because at least two people who did not win applied for seats on the board when several people resigned. …I mean, the number of votes in the previous election should not be the only factor in choosing a board member, but why close your eyes to potentially useful data about the members?
Peter Pennekamp, a former Coast Central board member, shared Peyton Dahlberg’s concerns.
“In some ways, Coast Central is one of the best organizations here,” he told . Outpost. “But in terms of other things, I think she’s hardly doing what she should be doing.”
Pennekamp has served on “dozens of boards” over the past 30 years, and said that during that time he has “never encountered (a board) that was more hostile to new ideas.”
“(The organization) is performing its core function admirably.” When I resigned, people said, “Are you going to lapse?” I said: No! I love this organization! I think it is performing poorly in its responsibility towards its members. …I resigned because I felt that the administration and the protectionist board were willing to go to any lengths to prevent anything from being discussed.
the Outpost I reached out to each of the incumbents for additional comment on their nominations. Ron Rudback, the current board president, was the only incumbent to respond to our request for comment.
Rudbuck, who has served on the board for the past 43 years, was reluctant to talk about his nomination, but emphasized the importance of having a diverse range of viewpoints on the board.
“I think it’s great to have new members to get new ideas and new perspectives, but it’s also good to have some senior members on the board to provide historical context,” he said in a recent phone interview. “I think it’s good to have a balance between the two.”
Rudebock had high praise for Coast Central, noting it is a “fantastic organization” and praising its staff and leadership for “working hard to serve all of our members.”
As for the rest of the incumbents, Matthew Wakefield is a Crescent City-based CPA and co-owner of SeaQuake Brewing. “I have a deep understanding of the economic landscape in our region and the financial challenges our residents face,” he wrote in his candidate statement. “My local roots fuel my commitment to aligning credit union policies with the best interests of the communities we serve.”
Wakefield said his hands-on experience as a local business owner has provided him with “practical insights into the financial needs of small businesses” and “a valuable perspective for shaping the credit union’s support for local businesses.”
Terri Ann Merding believes her 38 years of experience as a teacher in the Burnt Ranch School District has provided “the skill set, objectivity and patience (required) to be a useful addition to the board team,” according to her statement. “I have served on district committees to help implement state and federal school district guidelines and acceptable government processes.”
Dane Valadao, a lifelong Humboldt County resident and local developer, said his experience in commercial lending and financing makes him a good candidate for the board. “I have a strong work ethic and my decision-making skills are very balanced and based on logic,” he wrote in his statement.
the Outpost Coast Central sent out a request for additional information about the candidate earlier this week. We have requested a digital copy of candidates’ statements and contact information. Coast Central was unable to provide the candidates’ contact information “for privacy reasons,” said Colleen Tosti, vice president of marketing and communications. A digital copy of the candidates’ statement was not provided.
We sent out a follow-up request asking how long each incumbent has served on the board. “If candidates choose to include that in their candidate statements, it’s there,” Tosti responded. “If not, we won’t be able to share that information.”
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If you are a member and have not sent in a completed ballot, you will want to do so sooner rather than later. Ballots must be received at the Wisconsin address where they will be counted by Wednesday, January 31. Ballots received after this date will be invalid.
The results of the election will be announced at the next Annual Members Meeting, which is scheduled to be held on Thursday, February 22 at 6pm at the Coast Central Member Services Branch at 2650 Harrison Avenue in Eureka.
More information can be found here.