Veteran Vancouver journalist Allen Garr is running for the board of Vancity as a member of the Action Team. The Vancouver-based credit union has more than 400,000 members and controls $14.5 billion in assets. This year’s directors’ election will take place from March 19 to 27.

The Action Team, originally known as the Action Slate, was created by New Democrats in the 1980s, and it currently controls the nine-member Vancity board with a one-vote majority. “They’re a group that in my mind has proven to”¦work cooperatively with people, even though I may not agree with everything they’re doing,” Garr told the Straight by phone.

Garr, a Vancouver Courier columnist, said he has never been a member of a political party. Action Team board members include B.C. NDP provincial secretary Jan O’Brien (wife of Vision Vancouver councillor Geoff Meggs) and former B.C. NDP president Patrice Pratt.

Each year, three directors are elected for three-year terms. The job pays $20,000 per year for attendance at monthly board meetings. Action Team director Virginia Weiler and independent directors Bob Williams and Doreen Braverman are all running for reelection, according to Garr. Williams is a former NDP cabinet minister and an outspoken advocate of the arts. Braverman is the founder of the Flag Shop and a former president of the B.C. Liberals.

Heather Tremain, CEO of reSource Rethinking Building, is the other Action Team candidate.