The Eureka City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to send a letter urging the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, to divest from companies that support the Israeli government.
Eureka appears to be the first government agency in California to make such a request of the state pension fund. Other cities, including Hayward and Richmond, have withdrawn their own investments from Israeli companies.
Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery said it’s hard to tell how much of the CalPERS' $574 billion portfolio would qualify.
“Very clearly, Israeli national businesses are some of those, and those are easy to depict," he said. "But the ones that contribute to the technology and the arms and logistical stuff. It's really hard to decipher exactly what that amount is.”
The council’s letter follows other efforts pushing the city to respond to larger issues. Earlier this year, Eureka decided to stop using Avelo Airlines because of the company’s involvement in federal deportation flights.
Council Member Leslie Castellano supported the letter but acknowledged that it was largely symbolic in nature.
"CalPERS has pretty strong stances around divestment," she said. "And policies that will make it unlikely that they will divest.”
In a statement earlier this month, CalPERS said divestment increases financial risk and reduces its ability to influence companies from within.
The pension fund’s board completely divested from the tobacco industry in 2001, citing financial uncertainty in the industry. More recent divestments, including from coal companies and firms operating in Iran and Sudan, were mandated by state law.
Separately, a number of teachers unions and advocacy groups are calling on CalSTRS, the state pension fund for educators, to divest from companies that support Israel's war in Gaza.
