PORT TOWNSEND — A group of protesters spent Sunday night camped on the Jefferson County Courthouse lawn prior to meeting with Treasurer Judi Morris on Monday morning to urge her to divest county money from any bank that is not locally owned.
In her response, Morris said the county has only a nominal involvement with Bank of America, and most of its financial activity is conducted with local institutions.
The protest was in conjunction with the first anniversary of the national “Occupy Wall Street” movement, which is targeted Bank of America and other large banks.
“When money stays in the community, it multiplies,” said protester R. Sidney Collins.
“We need to have the money stay local so it supports the local economy.”
About 25 people gathered on the courthouse lawn Sunday night, with 10 of them spending the night in tents.
About 15 met with Morris, all seated around a conference table, with each offering an opinion about why the county should divest itself from Bank of America and any other bank not chartered in the state.
They suggested that the county put all of its investments into Kitsap Bank, First Federal or a local credit union. This included the desire to support local financial institutions.
The format by which the protesters spoke first and then allowed Morris to respond was developed by the protesters and agreed to by Morris.
Morris said that only a small percentage of the county’s financial structure is held in Bank of America.
“The county has about $59 million in investments, and none of that is in Bank of America,” she said.
“Our accounts in Bank of America are transitory, which means the money is in there one day and out the next.”
Morris said Bank of America was selected for this function for its ability to handle vouchers, which is a mandated requirement for the transfer of large funds.
She said she would be willing to talk to other financial institutions and would consider them if they also could handle vouchers.
Morris last met with Occupy Port Townsend in May, during which time she said the county has a contract with Bank of America that runs through 2013 and planned to put out a request for bids on the service in June 2013.
At that time, she said the county was entering a large-scale software conversion and chose not to issue the formal request until after the conversion was complete.
She repeated this Monday.
“I could theoretically break the agreement with Bank of America, but I didn’t want to manage a new financial process at the same time as the conversion,” she said.
Morris said that counties can only use approved financial institutions, and those do not include credit unions.
In May, the Occupy forces presented Morris with a memo about their objections to Bank of America, which she said she had not read.
Morris said a new bank would be selected from the best deal, causing protester Rachelle Merle to say: “It should be more about the bottom line. You should take into account what is best for the community and the ethics of the company.”
Morris said she would attempt to consider this but said “ethics is a judgment” and was not sure how that consideration would fit into a bid request.
Matt Ready, who was moderating the meeting, pushed Morris about this distinction.
“I hear you say that you have no interest in doing anything about this until it’s convenient, in next June,” he said. “If there was a moral issue that was big enough that you felt you had to look at within your heart, I assume that you would do something about it.”
“I would, yes,” Morris said.
“Right now, I feel there is a disconnect between us that we haven’t been able to convince you that this is important and that there is a moral issue,” Ready said.
“I didn’t say there was not a moral issue, only that I am not acting on it right now,” Morris said. “Aside from any moral issue there is a practical issue.”
While the protesters were breaking a law that forbids camping on the courthouse property, they were told by County Administrator Philip Morley that they would not be arrested.
Morley met with Occupy members Saturday at a private residence and asked them to maintain access to the courthouse for all visitors and to not disrupt courthouse business.
Morley also ordered the sprinkler system to be shut down Sunday night so that tents would not be soaked.
“We wanted to make this go smoothly for everyone and to make it easy for them to exercise their right of free speech,” Morley said.
The overnighters used a portable toilet that had been placed in the park across the street for a dodgeball tournament Saturday.
After the protesters left Monday morning, Morley heard from a member of the courthouse custodial staff, saying that the cleanup was thorough and nothing was left behind.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
