Dear City Council,

I write to urge you to take the occasion to move Iowa City's financial operations to local financial institutions rather than US Bank and Wells Fargo. A model institution would be the University of Iowa Community Credit Union, which serves us well and has won national awards for its high quality, but there are also others such as Hills Bank.

First, US Bank and Wells Fargo have invested $700,000 million in the new pipeline--which not only crosses Native lands against their will but as planned will pass through 9 watershed areas in the state of Iowa. Spills, leaks, damage to land and waterways, and harmful health effects are expected, for no compensating financial gain for the state of Iowa.

Even apart from the pipeline, there are good reasons to bring the money home. Wells Fargo has a terrible service record. And investing in safe, reliable institutions which directly serve Iowa City, the state of Iowa and the Midwest, makes very good financial sense.

I urge you to act on this matter now, both for ethical and prudential reasons.