Today's Lewiston Tribune Report on the LWV Candidates Forum

All of what I have heard reported said by Judy Krueger last night is just laughable. Same old tired PARD arguments. There is no way Main Street is ever going to provide Pullman with the kind of tax revenue that we need. I don't care if you build a trolley, make traffic two-way, increase parking, whatever. It ain't gonna happen. All this pie-in-the-sky nonsense is to cover their jihad against Wal-Mart.

It's all about geography in Pullman. Not Judy's strong suit I guess. That's why the city very consciously chose Bishop Boulevard as the commerical center for Pullman. I heard Krueger on the radio this morning saying that Wal-Mart would move the retail center of gravity out to Bishop Boulevard. Duh! The Comprehensive Plan calls for that. Downtown has a role and Bishop has a role. But Josh is right. Dense retail is the only way we are going to make up the millions we have lost from I-695. There is nothing wrong with having coffee shops and boutique restaurants downtown. That's sort of the way it is now anyway. However, at $3.50 a pop, those coffee shops would have to sell 6,427,226 double tall lattes just to meet the fire department's $191,210 request alone. That's a lot of java. And a lot of bull.

I hope people in Pullman can see throughthis rhetoric, but I have my fears. And the media just loves all the "smart growth" talk. Look how much more coverage Krueger got in the article below than the other candidates

Pullman City Council hopefuls speak out

By JOEL MILLS
of the Tribune

PULLMAN -- Pullman City Council incumbents and challengers got to speak their minds at a quick candidates forum Thursday night at Pullman City Hall.

Efficiently run by the Pullman League of Women Voters, the forum lasted a thrifty 45 minutes and was attended by about 50 citizens.

Joshua Coke, a Washington State University student and employee, is challenging incumbent Bill Paul for the Ward 1, position 7 seat. He has settled on Pullman for a home and said he's running to bring the student voice into city government.

"I don't feel enough students get involved and I want to encourage them to do so," Coke said.

Write-in candidate Gary Johnson is also challenging Paul. He wasn't able to attend the forum.

Johnson, a fifth-grade teacher at Sunnyside Elementary School, sent friend Cynthia Hosick in his stead. Hosick touted Johnson's 41-year teaching career and his local and national experience with the National Education Association.

"He believes he will be a proactive and thoughtful council member," Hosick said of Johnson. She also stated Johnson's opposition to a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter on Bishop Boulevard, adding he is in favor of "reasonable development."

Paul commended Coke, 23, for running as a young person. The former insurance broker and five-year councilor plugged his participation in Rotary, the Pullman Chamber of Commerce, American Legion and Boy Scouts. He said he had no personal agenda for a future council term.

"It's not important what I want to do," Paul said. "I want to represent you."

Attorneys Judy Krueger and Ann Heath are facing off for the Ward 3, Position 5 seat Heath was appointed to a year ago.

Heath mentioned three goals: maintaining a climate to encourage economic development, creating better neighborhoods and completing pedestrian and bike trails as funding allows.

Heath, Paul and Coke said the council can do nothing about Wal-Mart since the world's largest retailer followed proper procedures when it applied for a building permit. Paul and Coke both voiced strong support for the jobs and tax revenue the store would bring to town.

But Krueger again voiced her opposition to the store for several reasons. She said citizens didn't get to give adequate input on Wal-Mart and criticized its business practices.

She said Pullman would do better to focus on Main Street.

"We need to convert our 18,000 students into regular customers of downtown," Krueger said.

A transportation route between campus and the downtown sector and businesses like sidewalk cafes and theaters would help attract those students, Krueger said.

She also wanted the city to order Wal-Mart and future "big box" stores to complete an economic impact study to show what effects it would have on existing businesses, "so that no decision is made today without full consideration of its affects on tomorrow."

Krueger also voiced support for turning Main Street into a two-way street with diagonal parking to alleviate parking issues downtown.