Several activists again plan to call on the L.A. City Council Monday to shift investments now managed by Wells Fargo Bank to another institution due to Wells’ financial support of the Dakota Access pipeline plan.
Activists with Divest LA held a rally outside City Hall attended by about 100 people in March calling on the city to divest from Wells Fargo, and about two weeks later two City Council members introduced a motion in support of the idea.
After holding a news conference at 11 a.m. Monday, members of Divest LA plan to speak during the public comment section of the Budget and Finance Committee meeting, although the committee, which will meet starting 2 p.m., is not scheduled to discuss the motion.
“The city has historically upheld strong principals protective of the environment and the health and welfare of its residents. Wells Fargo’s support of the Dakota Access Pipeline Project is at odds with these principals,” according to the motion.
The city holds more than $40 million in securities with Wells Fargo that have a one-to four-year maturity, according to the motion, which was introduced by council members Paul Koretz and Mitch O’Farrell, and seconded by Councilman Mike Bonin,.
“The city should divest its holdings from Wells Fargo in a manner that protects taxpayers’ interests, and reinvest those funds in responsible financial institutions that respect the rights of all individuals to be treated fairly and equitably. Wells Fargo needs to change its business practices, or risk losing a customer in the city of Los Angeles,” O’Farrell said when he introduced the motion.
In February, the Seattle City Council voted to end its banking contract with Wells Fargo when it expires in 2018 due to its financial support of the pipeline project. The cities of Davis and Santa Monica have made similar moves.
The oil pipeline runs more than 1,100 miles from North Dakota to Illinois, and sparked a major protest that lasted for months near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Members of the tribe opposed the project because they said it passed over a sacred burial ground and would threaten their water source.
After pipeline construction was halted in November by the Army Corps of Engineers, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January instructing the agency to finish the project and oil started flowing through the pipeline in March.
The pipeline cost an estimated $3.78 billion dollars to build.
Wells Fargo executives said in a February statement that it is not the lead bank on the project, and is merely one of 17 financial institutions that made a loan to the developers of the pipeline. The company said it lent $120 million to the project.
