Decades of affordable housing projects have not delivered houses that people can afford to live in. Private banks and private equity treat homes as commodities rather than places for people to live. A public bank would fund community driven solutions to gentrification and ever-increasing housing costs.
PHILADELPHIA—Thursday, November 17, on Zoom (link below), in a People’s Economic Forum, the Philadelphia Public Banking Coalition will call on the Mayor to stop obstructing the establishment of a public bank and listen to local residents, activists, housing experts, and racial justice advocates confronting the broken promises of “affordable” housing in Philadelphia. Experts in housing and the intersection of race and the economy will describe how the practices of private banks and private equity have driven the cost of homes beyond the affordable range for many Philadelphians and created a trajectory of disinvestment in our neighborhoods, with an outsized impact on black and brown communities.
The second half of the program will focus on ways that local communities can influence this trajectory through initiatives such as community land trusts (CLT) and cooperatives and the role that a mission driven, public bank could play in funding these and other creative solutions. The moderated discussions will be open to questions and comments from the public.
In March, 2022, City Council passed Bill #210956-A by overwhelming majority. The purpose of this bill is to create a Philadelphia Public Financing Authority (PPFA) to provide financing that addresses Philadelphia’s unmet needs and to lay the groundwork for a Philadelphia public bank. In June, 2022 Mayor Kenney chose to ignore the people’s will by refusing to appoint the initial board of directors or release funds to establish the new authority. On October 7, The Philadelphia Public Banking Coalition issued a Citizen’s Subpoena charging the Mayor with dereliction of duty and demanding that he immediately appoint the PPFA board and attend the People’s Economic Forum on November 17 to explain his failure to implement the law enacted by Council. Current Councilmembers and all Mayoral hopefuls have also been invited to attend.
What: The People’s Economic Forum, Part 1: Addressing the Housing Crisis
When: November 17, 7pm
Where: Zoom [link]
Who: Moderated by Vanessa Lowe of G-town Radio and POWER Interfaith. Guests include Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, Reverend Gregory Holston of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, and other advocates for housing justice and economic democracy invited by the Philadelphia Public Banking Coalition.
