Credit Union group hires new CEO

One of K Street’s top jobs has been filled — and an ex-member of Congress did not get it.

The Credit Union National Association hired William Cheney to replace Dan Mica, a former member of Congress, as president and CEO, a signal CUNA’s board favored industry knowledge over Capitol Hill experience.

Cheney is currently president and CEO of the California/Nevada Credit Union Leagues. While he has relationships with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), he has not worked on Capitol Hill.

CUNA said it considered a number of potential candidates. The Credit Union Times reported the list included retiring Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), the chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee. A CUNA spokesman said the association would not comment on other candidates for the position.

Cheney has been the president of the California/Nevada Leagues since 2006 and will take over the national association on July 5.

Details of Cheney’s compensation package were not released. But Mica was among the best-paid trade association heads. He earned $1.8 million in total compensation in 2008, according to tax records.

“I am honored that the CUNA board has the confidence in me as their selection for this position, given the very extensive search that was conducted by the committee,” Cheney said in a statement.

CUNA spokesman Patrick O’Keefe said Capitol Hill access was a critical decision in Mica's hiring in 1996.

Back then, credit unions were trying to change a law after a U.S. Supreme Court decision limited credit union eligibility.

“At the time, our emphasis was on Capitol Hill clout,” O’Keefe said. “This is a different time.”

The board was looking for someone with a background in the industry, he said.

But O’Keefe also said CUNA was not pulling back on its lobbying operations and noted Cheney’s relationship with Democratic leaders and the large California delegation in Congress as a factor in his hiring.