CHARTER COUNTY —> COUNTY BANK! An idea whose time has come

[comodin]

In September, I attended a presentation by people from Mendocino County who are intending to set up a county bank. This would be a huge advantage to Sonoma County as well. It involves, first, becoming a “charter county,” as 14 California counties have done, which has many wonderful benefits of its own. In what follows I have tried to summarize as much as I understood, though to be sure, you can go to the Public Banking Institute’s website.

The California constitution grants “home rule” to charter counties. A charter county can do things not prohibited by the State Constitution, for example:

—Prevent the vast majority of foreclosures by requiring the County Recorder to meticulously authenticate the chain of title. (This is expected to prevent 75-80% of foreclosures. Phil Ting, SF Assessor, found 80% of SF foreclosures were fraudulent). Foreclosures have been devastating. The cost of the foreclosure crisis in Sonoma County, from 2008 to 2012, can be seen from these figures:

Total Foreclosures 20,495
Home loss Value $ 8,429,777,672
Property tax loss $ 51,421,644
Cost to local govt. $ 208,650,033

—Prohibit environmentally harmful industries, GMO food production, the use of neonicotinomide (which kills pollinator bees), nuclear power plants, fracking

—Authorize the use of composting toilets to conserve water;

—Refuse to recognize corporations as natural persons, or the right to spend money on political campaigns as a right of free speech;

—Require the use of local businesses and non-profits for county work wherever possible;

—Set up a public COUNTY BANK!

Advantages of a public county bank

—Safety of the county’s money.

At 6/30/13, the average monthly balance at B of A was $13,972,184.38, and at Exchange Bank it was $8,302,874,83. Total: $22,275,059.21. TWENTY-TWO AND A QUARTER BILLION DOLLARS!

All of this could be seized by the banks if they become bankrupt. Further bank bailouts are now suspended, so the only recourse a bank would have is to “bail in,” i.e., appropriate their depositors’ money! This is no remote possibility. It happened to the depositors of the Bank of Cypress, and there are similar measures proposed globally, some already in place. Big banks, such as B of A which holds most of our money, are heavily invested in mortgage-backed securities called derivatives. The derivatives bubble exceeds the total GDP of the world by nearly ten times. Derivatives have “super-priority status,” which means they get paid off before all other depositors. There may be nothing left by the time it was our turn to get paid.

—No banking expense.
In the fiscal year 2012-13, Sonoma County paid $119,132 for banking expenses ($67+K to B of A, 45+K to Exchange Bank, and $6+K to Union Bank). If the County had its own bank, there would be no such expense.

—Financing of local projects

—Low interest student loans

—Local currency! —to keep money in the county!

The above is only a report on a good idea. I don’t know how to implement it. What do we do? Anyone got an idea?

See the public Banking Institute’s web site:

https://publicbankinginstitute.org/county-banks.htm

[Cotati101]

I'm appreciating your post and details of the advantages of Public Banking. I'm responding with an email (below) from Abraham Entin, which will happen tomorrow in Petaluma. I could not get the links to the flyer to open but there are two links (which you may need to cut and paste into your browser) below his signature which will support you in connecting with folks creating Public Banking in Sonoma County.

Delighted to see this community growing,
Terri Moon
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Dear PBI Group,
On Saturday, Nov. 16th I am giving a talk at St. John's Episcopal Church in Petaluma entitled: "Christ and the Corporate Being: Throwing the Money Lenders out of the Temple". The talk will certainly include public banking as an important component of the solutions being discussed.

This is a link to the flyer: Please feel free to forward it to anyone you think might be interested-and, of course, you are all welcome to attend as well!

Abraham_Entin_Talk_Revised.pdf
147K View Download
Thanks so much for all the work on this important issue.
Abraham

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Refer others: https://groups.google.com/d/forum/no...public-banking or [email protected]
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In September, I attended a presentation by people from Mendocino County who are intending to set up a county bank. This would be a huge advantage to Sonoma County as well. It involves, first, becoming a “charter county,” as 14 California counties have done, which has many wonderful benefits of its own. In what follows I have tried to summarize as much as I understood, though to be sure, you can go to the Public Banking Institute’s website. . .

https://publicbankinginstitute.org/county-banks.htm

[Peacetown Jonathan]

I think this is an important idea whose time has come. Not to replace our excellent credit unions and some fine local banks, but for a public alternative that could be sustained should the federal reserve system collapse. There could be other great advantages, like banking for our cash-rich marijuana dispensaries. The Feds have made banking nearly impossible for them. This is going to be an increasingly important component of our economy, especially when we legalize in 2016 (and we will). A County Bank would be very helpful for this, not to mention underwriting and selling bonds of locally beneficial uses.