Public Banking for the Central Coast

Mark your calendars for an informative Zoom meeting Sunday May 31 from 1:30-3:00pm. Speakers will share details on the progress of public banking both locally and in the state of California. Speakers include Santa Cruz County 4th District Supervisor Zach Friend, explaining the unanimous vote of the County Supervisors to pursue a viability study for a public bank with neighboring government entities including San Benito, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara Counties.

Our featured speaker is Trinity Tran, a prominent organizer of Public Bank Los Angeles and CPBA, the California Public Banking Alliance. She will describe CPBA's successful campaign for the statewide Public Banking Act (AB 857), which was signed into law in October 2019. She will also explain the various benefits public banks can provide in meeting the COVID-19 financial crisis.

Santa Cruz Mayor Justin Cummings will welcome participants from cities and counties throughout the Central Coast area. Randa Solick and Reed Geisreiter will provide a brief history of the work done by a Santa Cruz-based volunteer citizen committee called People for Public Banking, joining other such groups around the state to move public banking forward. Geisreiter, a retired banker, will explain how a public bank could operate providing reliable financial backing to local banks and credit unions. A Q&A session will follow.