Credit Unions Online recently was able to interview Laura Wells with the Green Party, a Past Candidate for California State Controller, 2002 and 2006 (www.laurawells.org). Below is the full unedited interview:

1. Do you support the philosophy of credit unions and plan to support their non-profit status, continued existence, and growth?

"Yes, the Green Party platform explicitly supports credit unions, realizing that credit unions help keep money circulating within local communities, rather than heading straight to distant headquarters of giant for-profit financial institutions. By helping in areas including housing, local employment, small business development, credit unions are an important element of the Green Party value of 'community-based economics.'"

2. Are you concerned at the reduction in the number of credit unions in the United States over the last couple of decades along with increased mergers among for-profit financial institutions? If so, would propose anything to reverse the trend?

"It has been a major focus of Green Party campaigns to expose the ways in which corporate power has increased and harmed our democracy and society. National and multi-national for-profit banks have grown enormously through mergers, often laying off thousands of employees and decreasing credit opportunities for locals when they move functions outside the area. The Green Party proposes that corporate rule be abolished, by revoking charters and restricting political influence. Please see this survey's last question for an article on one successful campaign in Humboldt County, California."

3. Smaller credit unions are often challenged by the costs associated with twenty-first century technology (e.g. websites, online banking, eStatements, etc.) Would you propose anything that would assist smaller credit unions in taking advantage of costly current and future technologies?

"As a personal note, I have belonged to the Kaiperm Credit Union in Oakland, California for almost 20 years. Their website www.kaipermicu.org has been helpful to me, and might serve as a model. Incidentally, my daughter was the recipient of a Kaiperm grant for a computer during her college studies, and I see that as an example of the credit unions helping people, including youth, in the local community.

As to proposals for funding implementation of current and future technologies, the Green Party calls for the government to ensure that smaller businesses, such as community-based credit unions, have access to affordable loans at rates competitive to those offered big business."

4. Any additional comments, concerning credit unions, you would like to add.

"The pertinent Green Party platform section can be found at: http://gp.org/platform/2004/economics.html#249123."

Disclosure: Credit Unions Online contacted the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian parties, along with Ralph Nader's campaign. However, by publication time, the other parties did not respond to an interview request or did not complete the answers in time.