Resident criticizes city cash holdings and bank choices during public comment

Anastasia Ferner, a resident who waived her address for safety reasons, criticized the City of Lincoln’s reported cash-on-hand during the March 17, 2025 council meeting and connected the city’s banking relationships to wider humanitarian and environmental concerns.

Speaking during the consent-agenda public-comment period, Ferner referenced the city treasurer’s report for January 2025 and said the city “does have over 671555250 and 71 cents,” and that the city’s deposited funds are held at banks she named. She told the council that those banks — she named Wells Fargo in her remarks — “not only has done untold harm to indigenous folks by being partial funders of things like the Dakota Access Pipeline,” but also she alleged those institutions finance military actions abroad.

Ferner further framed the city’s cash holdings as inconsistent with local needs, saying Lincoln has “hundreds” of people experiencing homelessness and that “one in five children go hungry,” and questioned the city’s choice to hold funds in institutions she described as contributing to harm. She urged the council to consider the implications of the city’s banking relationships; the meeting record shows no substantive response from council or staff at the time her comments concluded.

Claims and context

- Ferner asserted a specific cash-on-hand figure drawn from the city treasurer’s report; the numeric transcription in the meeting record is imprecise. The city treasurer’s report itself was the item announced on the consent agenda; the council proceeded to the vote after public comment.

- Ferner named Wells Fargo and linked the bank’s lending and investment practices to projects and actions she described as harmful; those characterizations were made by the commenter and were not verified or corroborated during the meeting.

What the record shows

- The clerk read the city treasurer’s report as part of the consent agenda. Ferner’s remarks were part of the public-comment period on consent items.

- The council moved forward with voting on consent items and other agenda items; no formal action or staff directive stemming from Ferner’s remarks is recorded in the meeting minutes.

Quotations

- “The City Of Lincoln does have over 671555250 and 71 cents,” — Anastasia Ferner (verbatim from transcript; numeric transcription in the meeting record is unclear).

- “The bank that Lincoln money is sitting in, a good portion of it goes towards harming these children, goes towards dismantling entire cities, goes towards spawning desalination plants, goes towards Israel's defense system,” — Anastasia Ferner (commenter’s assertion; recorded in the public-comment transcript).

Clarifying details

Ferner waived her address for safety; she identified herself by name. The clerk proceeded to the consent-agenda vote after public comment; the minutes record the council approving consent items with roll-call votes but do not record any staff follow-up tied to Ferner’s statements.

Ending

Ferner’s remarks are recorded in the March 17 meeting minutes under the public-comment section for consent items; they did not result in an immediate council response or a recorded directive to staff during the meeting.