New Financial Force in the Valley

[Community Development Banking List]

Original message from: raul_pickett@elfuturocu.org



It's well known that the current economic crisis has had a disparate impact
on Central California. At one public event, a local Congressman was quoted
as stating, "While the rest of the country is facing a severe recession, the
San Joaquin Valley is facing a depression". This observation was clearly
astute since cities in the Valley face double digit unemployment, and
confront one of the most economically distressed regions in our nation.
Moreover, the Valley has been identified as having the lowest financial
literacy rate in the nation, and one of the largest concentrations of
poverty. We all know that access to equitable and fair financial services is
a critical element of any strategy to confront this problem.



The three community development credit unions that served the working poor
in the Central California were particularly impacted by the crisis, forcing
them into mergers during the last six months ie El Futuro, Kern Central, and
Community Trust in Modesto. Fortunately, the three groups merged with Self
Help Federal Credit Union, first chartered in California in June of 2008.
The three credit unions are currently operating as Community Trust Credit
union, a division of Self Help Credit Union. SHFCU shares a similar mission
with all three credit unions, and is committed to serving the increasingly
large numbers of "unbanked" populations in California. In our effort to
expand service to low income communities, we are seeking the support of
other progressive financial institutions and are currently in need of
deposits. We are requesting either traditional or socially responsible
deposits. Deposits are insured, while the credit union has been able to
greatly enhance its financial vitality.



With your support, we can make a difference in Central California.



Raul Pickett, EVP

Community Trust Credit Union

Div. of Self Help Federal CU





Raul Pickett, VP (Cude)

Community Trust Credit Union

(Div of Self Help Federal CU)

182 N. Main St.

Porterville, Calif. 93257

559 784 0324, Ext 105

[Community Development Banking List]

Original message from: ejdodson@comcast.net

Raul Pickett wrote:

It's well known that the current economic crisis has had a disparate impact
on Central California. At one public event, a local Congressman was quoted
as stating, "While the rest of the country is facing a severe recession, the
San Joaquin Valley is facing a depression". This observation was clearly
astute since cities in the Valley face double digit unemployment, and
confront one of the most economically distressed regions in our nation.
Moreover, the Valley has been identified as having the lowest financial
literacy rate in the nation, and one of the largest concentrations of
poverty. We all know that access to equitable and fair financial services is
a critical element of any strategy to confront this problem.

Ed Dodson here:
Which raises a critical question: how did California go from being what was
billed as the most robust economy in the world to something of a disaster
zone? At least two economics professors in California universities have
written extensively on the causes of the decline -- Mason Gaffney
(University of California, Riverside) and Fred Foldvary (Santa Clara
University). What do they say started the ball rolling downhill: Proposition
13, which materially changed the way communities in California raised
revenue from real estate to income and business profits.

From what I am told by friends in California, the likelihood of Proposition
13 being repealed -- despite the overwhelming evidence of its harm to
Californians, generally -- is almost zero. The result is that California's
economy and social environment are certain to get much worse as businesses
and residents who can do so pack up and leave.

[Community Development Banking List]

Original message from: bwolfberg@plsfinancial.com

Besides the burdensome tax structure, California's legal and regulatory scheme are the most unfriendly in the nation.

Any conversation among business leaders touching on California begins with a litany of the unique obstacles and costs of doing business there and ends with consensus that they will make no further investments in the state.

Bob

________________________________

From: bounce-5853369-9122036@list.cornell.edu on behalf of Edward Dodson
Sent: Sat 5/22/2010 9:07 AM
To: 'Raul PIckett'; communitydevelopmentbanking-l@list.cornell.edu
Subject: RE: New Financial Force in the Valley



Raul Pickett wrote:

It's well known that the current economic crisis has had a disparate impact
on Central California. At one public event, a local Congressman was quoted
as stating, "While the rest of the country is facing a severe recession, the
San Joaquin Valley is facing a depression". This observation was clearly
astute since cities in the Valley face double digit unemployment, and
confront one of the most economically distressed regions in our nation.
Moreover, the Valley has been identified as having the lowest financial
literacy rate in the nation, and one of the largest concentrations of
poverty. We all know that access to equitable and fair financial services is
a critical element of any strategy to confront this problem.

Ed Dodson here:
Which raises a critical question: how did California go from being what was
billed as the most robust economy in the world to something of a disaster
zone? At least two economics professors in California universities have
written extensively on the causes of the decline -- Mason Gaffney
(University of California, Riverside) and Fred Foldvary (Santa Clara
University). What do they say started the ball rolling downhill: Proposition
13, which materially changed the way communities in California raised
revenue from real estate to income and business profits.

From what I am told by friends in California, the likelihood of Proposition
13 being repealed -- despite the overwhelming evidence of its harm to
Californians, generally -- is almost zero. The result is that California's
economy and social environment are certain to get much worse as businesses
and residents who can do so pack up and leave.

[Community Development Banking List]

Original message from: jerry@slochtf.org

It is far more than Prop 13 and regulations.

The Central Valley is quite different from coastal California. The Central
Valley, and San Joaquin Valley (southern Central Valley) in particular, have
long been viewed as Appalachia-West. The San Joaquin Valley currently has
more than 4 million people and a 17% unemployment rate. The poverty rate in
the southern San Joaquin Valley was over 20% in 2008 (Fresno County was the
highest at over 22%). Two counties in the Sacramento Valley (northern
Central Valley) have unemployment rates in excess of 20%.

Those who still think that all of California's street are paved in gold,
should think twice and check out:

A December 2005 Congressional Research Service report
(www.csub.edu/library/gov/San_Joaquin_Valley_CRS_Report.pdf) found that per
capita income in the eight-county San Joaquin Valley was lower than in the
68-county Central Appalachia region and that rates of welfare dependency
were higher in the San Joaquin Valley.

The January 21, 2010 issue of "The Economist" ran an article entitled "The
Appalachia of the West: California’s agricultural heartland threatens to
become a wasteland." It is available online at:
http://chriswestergaard.posterous.com/californias-central-valley-the-appalac ('http://chriswestergaard.posterous.com/californias-central-valley-the-appalac')
hia-of.

An article entitled "San Joaquin Valley: New Appalachia?" was in the January
2006 issue of "Rural Migration News" from UC, Davis. It is available online
at: http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1077_0_2_0. ('http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1077_0_2_0.')

NPR ran a series on the Central Valley as a whole back in Novemer 2002,
which is online at:
www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/nov/central_valley.

Jerry

Gerald L. "Jerry" Rioux, Executive Director
San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund
71 Zaca Lane, Suite 130, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
phone:* (805) 543-5970;* fax:* (805) 543-5972
e-mail:* jerry@slochtf.org;* website:**www.slochtf.org


-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-5853369-11676635@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-5853369-11676635@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Edward Dodson
Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2010 7:07 AM
To: 'Raul PIckett'; communitydevelopmentbanking-l@list.cornell.edu
Subject: RE: New Financial Force in the Valley

Raul Pickett wrote:

It's well known that the current economic crisis has had a disparate impact
on Central California. At one public event, a local Congressman was quoted
as stating, "While the rest of the country is facing a severe recession, the
San Joaquin Valley is facing a depression". This observation was clearly
astute since cities in the Valley face double digit unemployment, and
confront one of the most economically distressed regions in our nation.
Moreover, the Valley has been identified as having the lowest financial
literacy rate in the nation, and one of the largest concentrations of
poverty. We all know that access to equitable and fair financial services is
a critical element of any strategy to confront this problem.

Ed Dodson here:
Which raises a critical question: how did California go from being what was
billed as the most robust economy in the world to something of a disaster
zone? At least two economics professors in California universities have
written extensively on the causes of the decline -- Mason Gaffney
(University of California, Riverside) and Fred Foldvary (Santa Clara
University). What do they say started the ball rolling downhill: Proposition
13, which materially changed the way communities in California raised
revenue from real estate to income and business profits.

From what I am told by friends in California, the likelihood of Proposition
13 being repealed -- despite the overwhelming evidence of its harm to
Californians, generally -- is almost zero. The result is that California's
economy and social environment are certain to get much worse as businesses
and residents who can do so pack up and leave.