Seattle considering creating public bank

kirotv.com
By Deborah Horne
Tuesday, December 9, 2014

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SEATTLE — When Abdul Yusuf started out in business, he struggled to find a bank willing to lend to a Somali immigrant.

"All the banks turned me down," he said.

The banks that turned him down are the same national banks, like Bank of America, with branches in the Rainier Valley neighborhood. So Yusuf eventually found his way to the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund and its executive director, Wayne Lau.

"We are depositing at the big banks but who knows where all of these deposits are going?" asked Lau. "Where are they being loaned?"

Now Lau is helping push the idea of Seattle severing its ties with the big banks and creating a public financial institution for its own banking needs and those of local business owners and other entrepreneurs.

"The idea of the public bank is that we can capture some of the deposits, which are very enormous and very vast at the city of Seattle that are now going to large money-centered banks," said Lau. "And keeping those funds invested and loaned in the Seattle area."

Proponents also argue the city could save taxpayers hefty banking fees and reduce its reliance on expensive private bond insurance.

Yusuf says he welcomes the idea.

"To have a bank that you actually have a touch and a feeling with and can understand the dynamics of the communities and all the things that are going on," said Yusuf. "It's really a plus."

The cities of San Francisco and Santa Fe, New Mexico, are considering establishing their own banks, too.

The Seattle Public Bank forum is to be held at the University Temple United Methodist Church, 1415 Northeast 43rd Street, Seattle, Wednesday 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

(Source: kirotv.com)

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