Fix LA Coalition Calls for Action to Cut Fees and Fund Neighborhood Services
LOS ANGELES, CA- At a lively downtown rally in front of the Bank of NY Mellon in Los Angeles, the Fix LA Coalition unveiled a groundbreaking research report, entitled "No Small Fees: LA Spends More on Wall Street than Our Streets," revealing that Wall Street charges the City of Los Angeles more than $200 million in fees. Coalition members called for action to reduce the high fees and put that money back into neighborhood services. After the rally, Fix LA Coalition members delivered the report to elected officials in City Hall.
The report can be found here: http://bit.ly/1joVVC0
Bahar Tolou, SEIU Research Coordinator and report co-author stated: "We are here today because as our public officials begin to debate the city budget—what to cut and what bills to pay—the one option that could improve finances is never on the table: Reducing the millions Wall Street is costing our city. We have a new report that reveals over $200 million in Wall Street fees just last year—not including principal or interest payments—just bank fees. This is more than we spent on LA's streets. It is an astounding amount of public dollars that is sucked out of the system by Wall Street."
Lisa Cody, SEIU 721 Research Analyst and report co-author stated: "This is the first time anywhere in the country that Wall Street fees have been compiled for any public entity. As the person that did this research, I can tell you that I spent months digging for all the Wall Street fees I could find, and I still know we don’t have it all. The $200 million is just the tip of the iceberg.
"A big part of the problem is transparency. We don’t know the full extent of Wall Street fees because this information is not track-able. And big parts of the information are missing. Perhaps the more significant fees are those we could not account for, like the private equity fees and others not subject to public disclosure.
Cody continued: "There is something we can do stop this massive drain on city finances: reduce these fees. They are all negotiable. She also pointed the finger directly at Bank of NY Mellon: "Based on what we know, there are some concrete steps we can take to save LA millions. For example, we can start with Mellon Bank to renegotiate a 'swap' deal that was supposed to save the city money, but is instead costing LA almost $5 million a year. To fix this toxic deal, the bank wants $24 million in more fees. In 2012, NY Mellon charged the city $26 million in termination fees for another swap they had sold us that turned out to be a terrible deal for LA."
Peggy Mears, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, said: "We've got a big challenge ahead of us. But we can do it. We can take back our city. We can make Wall Street pay their fair share. We can restore city services, rebuild the middle-class and put people back to work. We can make Los Angeles a city that works for everyone."
Bert Galvez, owner of Pescado Mojado Seafood Grill said: "The street in front of my business has been messed up for years. It since it isn't getting fixed water flows through it and then a huge pothole ruins the street. This pothole needs to be fixed. So does LA. It frustrates me as a business owner, but I don't think the city is to blame. When Wall Street caused the recession, many businesses took a hit. But we also lost services in our neighborhood. My customers hurt too. Isn't it time to make LA better for businesses, for neighborhoods, for all communities?"
Bob Schoonover, President, SEIU Local 721 closed out the program: "The bottom line is, our leaders in City Hall have a choice: LA can keep getting ripped off by Wall Street or you can change course and reinvest in our streets. I think the choice is pretty simple. That's how we're going to Fix LA."
The Fix LA Coalition is a coalition of community groups, working families, small business owners and faith-based organizations with hundreds of thousands of members in the City of Los Angeles. Member groups include Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE), Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), One LA, LA Voice, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Community Coalition, SEIU Local 721, Inner City Struggle, Coalition of LA City Unions, People Organized for Westside Renewal (POWER), AFSCME District Council 36 and others.
Some Coverage of the "No Small Fees" Report:
L.A. should trim bank and investment costs, group says: http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-unions-bank-costs-20140325,0,2716841.story#ixzz2x0YUDNpE
Huffington Post: ' New Report Reveals How Wall Street Impoverishes Los Angeles': http://www.huffingtonpost.com/les-leopold/new-report-reveals-how-wa_b_5028585.html
Report authors and Fix LA Coalition members are available for comment.