Friends of the Public Bank of Oakland Organizers Meeting

Join us in promoting a public bank for the City of Oakland!

The Friends of the Public Bank of Oakland was formed by members of Commonomics and Strike Debt Bay Area in August, 2016.

In November, we succeeded in getting the Oakland City Council to instruct the City Administrator to report on the cost and scope of a feasibility study for creating The Public Bank of Oakland. Our next goal is to convince the City Council to commission that study as soon as possible, and incorporate it into a business plan for a public bank in Oakland.

The City of Oakland, with our organizing help, held a public forum on public banking at Oakland City Hall, on Thursday, February 9, 2017. Watch the video .

After the Administrator’s report, due on or about March 1, we will lobby the Oakland City Council to fund the aformentioned study, and once that is out (hopefully with a favorable set of recommendations) we will lobby the Oakland City Council to pass enabling legislation that will create and fund a public bank for Oakland. Our overarching goal is to see a public bank flourish in Oakland while it helps the community, thereby providing an example for other jurisdictions wishing to rid themselves of their dependence on Wall Street banks.