The Boulder City Council on Tuesday decided the city should not sever ties now with JP Morgan Chase — one of the banks funding controversial pipeline construction in North Dakota — but instead investigate making a switch later this year.
Boulder typically bids out its banking services every five to seven years, and hasn’t done so since 2009 — five years after Chase became the city’s bank. Finance Director Bob Eichem told the council during Tuesday’s study session that Boulder is “overdue” to reissue that bid.
“It sounds like we have a (request for proposals) coming,” Councilman Sam Weaver said. “I would like to see that come as quickly as possible.”
His colleagues generally supported that urgency, and the group agreed that city financial staff should investigate banks that do not invest in fossil fuels but can handle the city’s banking needs.
It’s unclear, though, whether there is any institution that is large enough to handle the city’s hundreds of thousands of annual transactions, among other banking needs, and that also shares Boulder’s stance against fossil fuels.
In September, Amalgamated Bank became the first North American bank to vow to divest from supporting fossil fuels and instead invest in a clean energy transition. The city will look into whether there are others that have followed suit since, or may follow suit.
The bid later this month “could find that out,” Eichem said, adding, “and we would then find out on our side how many services they could provide, what kind of cybersecurity they have. … Are they able to handle the complexity of the processing and transactions and things that we have?”
The council entered Tuesday’s session — which was well attended by opponents of the proposed Bakken and Dakota Access pipeline projects that prompted the discussion — with a dilemma.
In December, the council approved a resolution in support of the Standing Rock Sioux and allies who have for months protested the pipeline. The resolution condemned what the council called a “militarized and disproportionate response” from law enforcement agents who have arrested more than 600 protesters to date.
The tribe “should have the ability to protect their lands, people, waters and sacred places from this destructive pipeline,” the resolution read. The council also called on the government to “take swift and meaningful Sekabet action” against the pipeline.
One way Boulder can take that action locally is to break from a bank that’s helping fund the $3.7 billion project.
But doing so would throw city financial services into a temporary disarray, Eichem said.
“Twenty years ago, it was very easy to change banks,” the finance director added Tuesday. “That is no longer true.”
City staff recommended the council support staying idle for now, then re-evaluating options through a competitive bid — a suggestion the council agreed with at its study session.
“We should definitely send a message about social responsibility — something that is critical to our community,” Councilwoman Jan Burton said.
Councilwoman Mary Young said: “I think that the Dakota Access Pipeline is something that would do a lot of harm and it’s right squarely within our values to go elsewhere.
“Yes, (divestment) might be really difficult, but nothing ever worth doing is easy.”
After Young finished her remarks, the crowd, which did not get to speak because there was no public hearing on Tuesday, erupted in cheers.
Throughout the discussion, two men held up a large banner reading “City of Boulder DEFUND DAPL.” Outside of the City Council chambers, another man set up an artistic display featuring a pipeline and various fake animals covered in oil.
Much of the council’s conversation centered on the general difficulty of ethical consumerism. If the city moves to a new bank that opposes the pipeline, they asked, how can it ensure that bank doesn’t also support the production of assault weapons or tobacco, for instance?
“There’s a big conversation happening in the world about, how do we have the money move towards the things we want to support?” Mayor Suzanne Jones said. “How can we be a productive part of that conversation?”
Councilman Matt Appelbaum said that if the city were to lay out, say, 10 moral priorities, it’s unlikely any bank would side with Boulder on all of them.
“We’re probably going to disagree with everybody on one of 10 things,” he added. “I think that’s going to be inevitable.”
Alex Burness: 303-473-1389, burnessa@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/alex_burness
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