This evening at 5:30, a group of community activists will hold a Take Back Springfield rally on the steps of City Hall, to express frustration with some recent developments in the city.
The organizers cite two specific controversies: the apparent new push by Palmer Renewable Energy to get a permit for its proposed wood-burning power plant in East Springfield, despite the fact that the City Council revoked PRE’s earlier permit this summer. And the legal threats from the Mass. Bankers Association over ordinances passed by the Council in August to try to prevent foreclosures in the city, and to hold lenders accountable for maintaining properties they do foreclose on.
“Big Banks and Big Business are destroying our communities, killing our jobs and damaging our environment! It’s time to take back our city!” says the coalition organizing the rally, a progressive who’s who that includes Arise for Social Justice, SEIU Local 1199, Springfield No One Leaves/Nadie Se Mude, Western Mass Jobs With Justice, Progressive Democrats of America, the Western Mass American Friends Service Committee, Stop Toxic Incineration, the Pioneer Valley Young Democrats, Out Now, and Amaad Rivera, Ward 6’s city councilor, who’s now running for an at-large Council seat.
After the rally, the group will head inside for a City Council meeting, where the agenda includes a resolution, sponsored by Rivera, calling for the city to stop doing business with Bank of America. As Pete Goonan reported in yesterday’s Springfield Republican, City Hall barely does business with BoA now; the city had just $3,580 on deposit with the bank as of last month. Rather, Rivera’s move (which, as a resolution, has no teeth) is a symbolic one, taking on one of the most reviled of the Big Banks.
In an interview with Goonan, Rivera criticized BoA for “predatory” practices, including recently enacted new fees on customers. The bank responded with a statement touting is track record for modifying mortgages and lending to small businesses, as well as its charitable donations, including $50,000 in aid after the June 1 tornadoes.
