Wed, May 27, 2026·Huntington Beach, California·City Council

Community Financial Literacy and Public Safety Presentation - January 13, 2025

Discussion Breakdown

Miscellaneous60%
Youth Programs24%
Public Safety16%

Summary

Community Financial Literacy and Public Safety Presentation

This multi-segment event featured a financial literacy session comparing banking options, a public safety briefing on a new drone program, and a children's storytime activity. The financial segment was presented by an instructor who explained features, fees, and benefits of traditional banks, credit unions, and online banks, emphasizing savings rates, fee structures, and accessibility. The public safety segment introduced a drone first response (DFR) program, highlighting its rapid deployment and crime-solving potential. The session concluded with a children's storytime focused on ocean animals.

Banking Overview

  • The instructor provided a detailed comparison of traditional banks, credit unions, and online banks, covering interest rates (e.g., traditional savings at 0.01%, credit unions at 0.07-0.1%, online high-yield at ~3%), fees (monthly, overdraft, ATM), account access, and services.
  • Traditional banks: Accessible across locations, but lower savings rates and higher fees. ATMs charge usage fees if out-of-network. Monthly fees $5-15, overdraft fees $25-35.
  • Credit unions: Nonprofit, member-owned, lower fees, higher savings rates, community-focused, but limited branch/ATM access outside network. Often require membership criteria (employer, location, family). Offer financial coaching.
  • Online banks: Low/no fees, high interest on savings (e.g., 3% APY), 24/7 access, but no physical branches. Examples like Capital One and Ally noted.

Key Advice on Choosing Accounts

  • Ask about account options (student, senior, low-income) to minimize fees.
  • Check withdrawal limits (e.g., $200–$500 ATM limits, six withdrawals per month on savings).
  • Consider FDIC/NCUA insurance for deposit safety.
  • For rebuilding credit: secured credit cards with a deposit (e.g., $500) can help.
  • Avoid minimum payments on credit cards to prevent debt cycles.
  • Certificate of Deposits (CDs) offer higher interest but require locking money for a term; early withdrawal penalties apply.

Drone First Response Program

  • Purpose: Enhance public safety by providing aerial situational awareness via drones.
  • Operation: Drone pilots at station receive calls and can launch a drone to arrive within two minutes.
  • Use cases: Responding to active incidents, finding missing persons (including Silver Alerts for seniors), and aiding law enforcement response without proactive surveillance.
  • Scale: Currently three drones positioned, with plans to expand citywide for two-minute response times.
  • Impact: Reported to reduce need for on-ground response; other agencies using similar programs report 20-25% of calls handled solely by drones.
  • Reassurance: Program is reactive (not proactive) to privacy concerns: drones respond only to specific calls, not used for general surveillance.

Children's Storytime: "Who's Hiding in the Ocean?"

  • Interactive reading with shape and color recognition (triangle/orange, heart/pink, circle/blue).
  • Revealed ocean animals: fish, turtle, octopus.
  • Theme: ocean life and habitats.

Discussion Items

  • Banking: Comparison of account types, fees, rates, and accessibility; emphasis on avoiding debt through credit card management.
  • Drone program: Operational details, privacy assurances, and public safety benefits.
  • Storytime: Engaging children with shapes, colors, and animal guessing.

Key Takeaways

  • Banking: Credit unions offer lower fees and better rates; online banks give high savings yields; traditional banks provide branch access for travelers.
  • Drone Program: Reduces response times (2 min target), improves evidence capture and public safety, non-proactive surveillance.
  • Storytime: Interactive reading method promotes early literacy through pattern recognition and audience participation.

Decisions & Next Steps

  • The drone program will continue expanding citywide coverage.
  • The banking presentation recommends consumers compare fees, rates, and services before choosing an institution.
  • Storytime segment suggests the library's ongoing educational programming for children.

Meeting Transcript

It's used to save money either for emergencies or for any goals that you may have. And it does gain a little interest. With traditional banking, it's only 0.01%. So it doesn't grow as much with a traditional bank. And it does have limits with the withdrawals that you can do. So usually it's only six per month, and after that you have to wait for the following month. And it works best if you have a short-term, sometimes for a long-term goals. But like I mentioned, it doesn't really give you a lot of interest. So maybe for the long term, it's not going to be the best option for you. This new tendency to use Zell or Venmo and that kind of thing. Is the traditional checking account going to be changing or going away? With like Zale and things like that, it's mostly to send money to other people. So it's just a service that's added to your to your banking. So even with a credit union, you can have Zell as well. So some credit unions also offer that service. So it's just a service that's included. So yeah. Yeah. I have a question. You were you skipped over this a little fast and I didn't notice something that you said. But for traditional banks, limits on withdrawals. With the savings account. Correct. Yes. Do they ever have uh limits on withdrawals from checking? From checking, it's usually the amount. So they do have a limit. Yes. Yeah. So usually with check-ins, they have an amount of how much you can withdraw on ATMs. If you go in person. I didn't mean by ATM. Okay. If you went in and said, I want this money. Usually if you go inside now, there's no limit. Yeah. What about ATMs? What's the isn't there a limit? Yes, for ATMs, there is a limit and it depends on your bank and also on you. So sometimes it's 200 to 500, the limit that you have, but you can also call your bank to increase that amount. So you do have the option of increasing that amount. Yeah. Okay. So we'll move on to credit cards. So I think for the most part, I think most of us have a credit card. It's a way that we can pay now. Sorry, we can buy now, pay later. It does help us build up our credit if we use it wisely. And we do want to pay off the full balance at the end of the month so that way we don't uh accrue any interest. Yes, because interest does make us fall behind and it could be difficult to get out of that cycle or get out of that debt.