'Occupy Healdsburg' Greets New Chase Bank Branch With Protest

If "all publicity is good publicity," then got its money's worth Tuesday when it opened a new branch in Healdsburg to find a dozen sign-carrying demonstrators outside its door.

"There's no rampaging of buildings here -- just a quiet presence," said organizer Dave Henderson of Occupy Wall Street@Healdsburg, o

"We're just doing this in small steps -- jogging people's memory and building consciousness," he said. "Silence is worse."

Protesters, members of and the ", said the action is to urge local residents to transfer their money out of big banks like Chase and to deposit their money in small local banks.

"We're not saying don't use banks," said Occupy Wall Street@Healdsburg organizer Kathryn Cerasoli, who transferred all her Chase account balances Tuesday into in Healdsburg.

"There are so many good local banks around here," she added, displaying a copy of her deposit check. "We're just saying there are positive alternatives to the big banks.

"We just think people here are passionate about doing the right thing," Cerasoli said.

declined specific comment about the protest, or about how many new accounts were opened -- or closed -- Tuesday.

He referred such queries to JP Morgan Chase media relations specialist Eileen Leveckis in San Francisco.

"While we respect the rights of protesters, we are continuing to serve the customers who are coming in to the new branch," Leveckis said in a telephone interview.

She said customer traffic for the branch's opening day were "on par" with other branch openings.

"It's really been business as usual," she said. "I've been told there's a steady stream of customers."

Asked about the protesters' position papers that target JP Morgan Chase and other "big banks" on Wall Street, Leveckis said the bank offcials were paying attention.

"When we hear that, we are certainly concerned and we do take it to heart," she said. "We do our best to offer the services and products that people want and need."

About 30 Chase corporate employees were present for Tuesday's opening. Of those, nine,  including Omar,  will be permanent staff for the new Healdsburg outlet, he said.

"We're just doing our jobs, like everyone else," said Omar, a Santa Rosa resident. He said most of his employees live in the general Healdsburg area.

Chase's new branch, the bank's 16th in Sonoma County, is in a 4,100-square-foot space that formerly housed a Blockbuster Video store.

Omar said all the signage at the new branch was installed by a Healdsburg contractor and other work was also done locally.

"I live in Cloverdale but my son goes to school in Healdsburg and my mom teaches at a Healdsburg school," said Chase personal banker Elia Diaz. "I love Healdsburg -- it's my second home."

Gary Goss, a member of the "Occupy Healdsburg" segment of the Healdsburg Peace Project, said he saw the protest Tuesday as a success.

"It's a nice growing group," he said of the joint cooperation between the two "Occupy Healdsburg" groups. "I think we're having a small impact."

Goss said the Healdsburg Peace Project, which has been demonstrating on the west side of Healdsburg Plaza every Thursday night since before the Iraq War started in 2003, will continue its routine even though the Iraq War is set to end by Dec. 31.

"There are other wars and I think we'll still be demonstrating," he said. "We're a progressive presence in town, and I think that's an asset."

Goss said tourists from San Francisco will "feel right at home" when they come to visit and do wine tastings and also see protesters.

"They will like a high-end town," he said, "with a touch of progressive-ism."

Leveckis said Chase is increasing its presence in California, with an estimated 900 to 920 branch banks to be in place in the state by the end of the year, she said.