Alameda County treasurer presents $40 million pledge and seeks board support for East Bay Public Bank

Treasurer Hank Levy told the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on July 9 that he intends to propose a $40 million county investment in the proposed East Bay Public Bank contingent on federal and state approvals, and asked supervisors to join the application process and waive a five-year limit on the county’s investment.

Levy, who said the county’s pooled investments total roughly $10.6 billion, said the proposed deposit would not jeopardize the pool’s safety or liquidity and framed the public bank as an additional tool to advance local priorities such as affordable housing, green energy and small-business lending. “I intend to make a $40,000,000 investment into the East Bay Public Bank upon its approval by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation,” Levy said during the informational session.

The presentation included remarks from Scott Waite, chief executive officer of the East Bay Public Bank, and Neha Singh, a former FDIC examiner now serving as the bank’s transition manager. Waite described the institution as mission-driven and regulated at state and federal levels and said the bank expects to reach profitability by its third year. “The public bank is going to be managed by seasoned and experienced professionals,” Waite said, noting the bank would partner with local lenders and leverage capital through chartered banking tools.

Singh summarized the FDIC/DFPI chartering process and warned of the high level of regulatory scrutiny for a de novo bank. “To be a chartered, FDIC‑insured institution comes with a great amount of scrutiny and regulation,” she said, urging board support through the application process.

Supervisors focused questions on three central concerns Levy had flagged: whether a public agency may capitalize and deposit into the bank, the bank’s governance structure, and financial risk to the county. Supervisor Tam asked for concrete operational details, including whether initial staffing costs would rely on private donations. Waite and Levy said initial startup work had been funded by donations and that they planned for the bank to be self-sustaining from deposit and lending spreads once operational.

Supervisors also pressed the presenters on scale and mission: with a planned county capitalization of $40 million, Levy and Waite said the bank would initially focus on smaller loans—preservation of existing housing, small-business lending and targeted green projects—and that larger projects would require pooled participation by other institutions. “We’re not trying to compete with the county’s bond initiatives,” Waite said, describing the bank as a complement to existing financing rather than a replacement.

Levy said county counsel was still reviewing legal questions about permissibility and any needed protections; County Counsel confirmed it was engaged in private discussions with the treasurer about remaining legal issues. The treasurer said he plans to return an action item to the board on July 23 asking the board to acknowledge intent to invest, join the application, waive the five‑year limitation and defer governance-seat discussion to a later date.

What happens next: This was an informational session, not a vote. Levy said he would submit a board letter seeking formal action at the July 23 meeting; county counsel and treasury staff will continue to provide legal and operational clarifications in the interim.