Bye, Bye ATM Ban

By Teresa Rochester

After landing in the national spotlight and inspiring other cities to follow suit, the Santa Monica City Council quietly voted to lift its ban on Automated Teller Machine surcharges early Wednesday morning.

In a 4 to 0 vote (Council members Pam O'Connor, Paul Rosenstein and Robert Holbrook had gone home), the council lifted the ATM ban, which resulted in the City's two biggest banks Bank of America and Wells Fargo limiting the use of their ATMs to customers.

The decision came after a federal trial court judge ordered the City to suspend its surcharge ban in his ruling on a suit brought against the City by Bank of America.

In response to the ruling, the City Council initially adopted a resolution declaring the surcharge ban suspended, but the defendants in the case claimed the action was insufficient and sought to have the City held in contempt of the order. The District Court postponed considering the contempt claim until October.

City Attorney Marsha Moutrie said the City disputes that it is in contempt but that in the interest of conserving resources by avoiding further litigation the best decision would be to adopt the ordinance. Council members agreed.