Counting More of PARD’s True Costs to Pullman

From the March 29 edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Pullman ponders bond for infrastructure; Street repairs, new sidewalks would be part of the package

Putting a $2.1 million bond issue on the November ballot was one possible solution the City Council discussed during goal-setting talks Tuesday night. The bond issue would replace the expiring $1.98 million Sunnyside gym bond approved by voters in 1998 and will not raise property taxes, Sherman said.

The bond was one of 30 goals considered by the council as part of its policy making for 2006. Setting goals also is the first step toward writing a 2007 budget.

Money for projects is short because the city anticipates the costs of employee health insurance and pension contributions to increase significantly over the next several years.

Okay, great, so they’re not raising property taxes. But wouldn’t it be even better if they CUT property taxes now that we’ve paid for the gym? It’s not going to happen though.

I quote from the “Economic & Fiscal Impacts of A Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pullman, Washington” conducted by Johnson Gardner:

These factors combined have an undesirable impact on municipal finances where the City is forced to support the infrastructure and services needs of the growing residential base but does not realize the benefits of retail sales tax revenues, including overdependence upon property tax revenues which have in recent years been significantly constrained by Statewide referendum.

How much more evidence do the people of Pullman need? Isn’t the consistent shortage of funding, yet ANOTHER property tax bond, and a .2% increase in the sales tax in the last six months enough proof that we have a severe economic imbalance in Pullman and Whitman County?

No, the PARDners want to “study it” some more. And let’s not forget about studying the Hawkins project in the corridor while we’re at it. It seems Cynthia Hosick and Company are more concerned about Moscow and Latah County’s economy than ours.

The article also listed some potential projects and their price tags:

12% increase in health insurance premiums in 2007: $155,000

12% increase in health insurance premiums in 2008: $174,000

Major repair project of West Main Street from State Street to Wawawai Road: $480,000

Other street projects ranging from $66,000 to $322,000 each

Sunnyside Park band shell: $350,000

Renovation of Reaney Pool, including spray pool: $250,000

Notice how any one of these could mostly or completely be paid for with the nearly $400,000 that PARD’s appeals have cost Pullman so far.

The true costs of this futile political opposition continue to add up.

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Zoning the Palouse Back to the Middle Ages

Scotty already did an execellent job covering this story from yesterday’s Moscow-Pullman Daily News, but I just had to get my $0.02 in. I find it significant that NO official from either Pullman or Whitman County was quoted.

City, county brainstorm ideas on growth; Moscow and Latah County want Pullman, Whitman County to join discussion

Join discussion of what? Talk is the enemy of action, and action is what Pullman and Whitman County need (and are getting).

“Everything’s great, and Latah County is open for business,” said Commissioner Paul Kimmell.

I admire Kimmell for doing his job as Executve Director of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce, but this is the biggest example of whistling past the graveyard I have seen in a while. Moscow may be thought of as many things currently, but “open for business” is not one of them. Name another town locally that has a “big box ordinance” that not only discourages new retailers from opening, but also limits the growth of existing businesses. And they’re not done tweaking it yet.

One idea, posed by Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney, Kimmell and others, is to hold a Pullman-Moscow corridor conference. The summit would bring together the leaders of Whitman and Latah counties, city council members from Moscow and Pullman and the presidents from both universities. They would create a plan to ensure everyone is working in tandem rather than on their own toward common goals. In reference to the proposed 200-plus acre Hawkins Companies retail development along State Highway 270 between Moscow and Pullman, Kimmell said it is a struggle to communicate effectively between the two counties.

A conference? Was there a conference when the Palouse Mall opened in Moscow? How about when Wal-Mart opened in Moscow? Did we “work in tandem” then? As in international politics, the only time a government asks for a “summit” is when they are in a weak position. The only “struggle to communicate” that I see now is that Moscow and Latah County don’t understand the words “Butt Out”.

So far, the Hawkins project is a good example of what can go wrong when the two counties do not work together, he said. Kimmell thinks it would be a good idea for Whitman County commissioners and Pullman City Council members to sit in on the meetings. Latah County Commissioner Tom Stroschein said everything from water to development is interconnected in the Palouse, which should make a cooperative attitude the status quo.

Once again, kudos to Kimmell for doing his job. But the only thing that has gone wrong with the Hawkins project is that Nancy Chaney and her out-of-state city council have no legal standing is appealing the Whitman County SEPA decision. And with apologies to Commissioner Stroschein, one thing that is NOT interconnected on the Palouse is tax revenue. And that ultimately is what development is all about.

Specifically looking at Latah County, Lee Gibbs said he and other businesspeople in Latah County see the perception of a ravine between people who want growth and those who don’t.

“Maybe we should just stand back and look at where we are going,” said Gibbs, who represents the Clearwater Economic Development Association and Zions Bank. “Perception is reality as we talk about economic development.”

He said a no-growth policy is not the message elected officials at the state and national levels should be hearing.

That’s the only logical part of this article. I know there are many rational, pro-growth people in Moscow. But they were asleep at the switch last November (thank God we weren’t here in Pullman). As my grandmother used to say, “You’ve made your bed, now you have have to lay in it”.

Moscow Councilman Aaron Ament said he does not believe there is a no-growth ideal in the county.

BWHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!!! Give me a break. Take a look at what some of Ament’s buddies and supporters at the Moscow Civic Association have had to say about growth over at the “Vision 2020” message board the last few months. Look especially for posts by Bill London, Joe Campbell, Mark Solomon, Nils Peterson, Tom Hansen, Joan Opyr, Keely Mix, and Wayne Fox:

December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006

Then there is the No Super Wal-Mart group’s site and blog.

Peruse those sites and tell me there isn’t a “no-growth” ideal in Moscow. I have heard of "bombing them back to the Middle Ages", but now we have "zoning them back to the Middle Ages". The hippies want to take Moscow back into the pre-industrial age with “homespun cottage industries” making clay pots and other “environmentally friendly”, “fair trade” goods. More power to ‘em. Just leave us out of it, please. We’re trying to have a 21st Century economy, not a 13th Century one where Pullman is a fiefdom of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

¡He Vuelto!

I have just returned from a four-day business trip to Monterrey, Mexico. Thanks to Scotty and Joshua for keeping things going in my absence.

I will blog about my experiences south of the border later.

Pullman Held Hostage: Day 179

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$357,550.96 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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Dealing with Moscow and Latah Co.

From today's Daily News:

One idea, posed by Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney, Kimmell and others, is to hold a Pullman-Moscow corridor conference. The summit would bring together the leaders of Whitman and Latah counties, city council members from Moscow and Pullman and the presidents from both universities. They would create a plan to ensure everyone is working in tandem rather than on their own toward common goals. In reference to the proposed 200-plus acre Hawkins Companies retail development along State Highway 270 between Moscow and Pullman, Kimmell said it is a struggle to communicate effectively between the two counties.

So far, the Hawkins project is a good example of what can go wrong when the two counties do not work together, he said.

I see nothing wrong with the Hawkins project (Lowes) at all. The only issue is that Moscow is trying to oppose it. If Moscow and Latah county does not want Whitman county to develop the 270-corridor then Moscow and Latah county should give all the tax money they collect from Washington citizens who shop over there.

They want to have their cake and eat it too. They get all of Washington's tax dollars. When Washington does something to stop the out-flow of those tax dollars Moscow and Latah county are trying to stop us. They want that tax money for themselves.

They want to "work together" but keep all the money for themselves.

If Moscow and Latah county want to beat Whitman county in the battle of retail dollars and tax dollars they can. Most business would love to build close to the mall and would love to take advantage of the lower minimum wage in Moscow. But Moscow is turning business unfriendly. Pullman is trying to welcome those businesses as is Whitman county. Unfortunately a few vocal people are trying to stop the business growth, not on grounds of legal means (wrong zoning area, etc), but on purely hatred towards the businesses (Wal-Mart) and the type of business (big box stores).

We need to keep fighting these people. We need to keep tax dollars in Whitman County.

The Flag of Mexico Raised over America

Is America under attack again? From the inside of the country people who claim to want to be in America are attacking it by raising the Mexican flag. They are raising the Mexican flag ABOVE an American flag. An upside down American flag! This is disrespect.

Why do we worry about the "rights" of someone who is here illegally? Why should we listen to someone is here illegally, someone who chooses to have an allegiance to the flag of his former country, someone who chooses not to become American, someone who takes the from jobs from Americans and then sends the money to his former country?

I hear the arguments all the time that no one else will do the labor they do. So that is why we need the illegal labor from other countries. That is a lie. We have hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans. We have hundreds of thousands of Americans who could take these jobs. But instead we choose to turn a blind eye to our borders and allow this to continue to happen.

So, America, here is what it has come to:








In case you're wondering Montebello High School IS IN AMERICA. Though you wouldn't know it by the flag flying over the land.

Job Seeker Advice

We received this E-mail from a Job Seeker:

FROM: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
SENT: Wednesday, March 22, 2005 10:36 AM
TO: Jobs NU
SUBJECT:regarding a job
ATTACHMENTS: XXXXXXXXXXX.doc

hai
i saw ur ad in nwjobs.com
iam looking for a job in seattle.
i have attached my resume here with for ur referral.
looking forward for ur reply
thanks
XXXXXXXXXXXX

My company did not waste time with a reply at all. Do people actually believe an E-mail like that will get them anywhere?

I suggested we respond with the following:
sry, ur 2 1337

Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic

On my way to the office this afternoon I was asked to sign a "Say no to Wal-Mart" petition by one of the PARD volunteers. They've set up their usual table on the Glen Terrell Mall, urging students to join them in the fight to end the tyranny that is legal use of commercially-zoned property. This is somewhat surprising given their numerous crushing defeats.

Not so surprising are the same tired arguments about desecration of the dead, impending doom for those daring enough to cross the street, and the complete economic destruction of all Pullman retailers. PARD's final appeal in Superior Court is a month away, and given the fact that the collection of more signatures in no reasonable way pertains to the SEPA or site plan appeals, I can only assume that we can expect yet another PR blitz as PARD fights to save the town of Pullman. Would anybody care to place bets on how many times we can expect Xeroxed copies of pages or PARD members own signatures?

Pullman Held Hostage: Day 176

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$351,558.49 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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Counting the True Costs

Supporting some of the claims made in the piece below by Clifford F. Thies about Wal-Mart's benefit to consumers is a recent scientific paper by Jerry A. Hausman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Economics and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Ephraim Leibtag of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service - Food and Rural Economics Division. The paper is titled "Consumer Benefits from Increased Competition in Shopping Outlets: Measuring the Effect of Wal-Mart". Hausman and Leibtag conclude:

We...find the average estimate to be 20.2% of average food expenditure. We similarly estimate the exact compensating variation from the indirect price effect that arises from the increased competition that supercenters create. We find this average effect to be 4.8%. Thus, we estimate the average effect of the total the compensating variation to be 25% of food expenditure, a sizeable estimate.

Since we find that lower income households tend to shop more at these low priced outlets and their compensating variation is higher from supercenters than higher income households, a significant decrease in consumer surplus arises from zoning regulations and pressure group tactics that restrict the entry and expansion of supercenters into particular geographic markets.

So in other words, in addition to the PARD/UFCW appeals costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and lost tax revenues, they are also adding 25% to the food expenditures of every family in Pullman and hurting lower income households.

To whom shall we address the bill, PARDners?

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Pullman Held Hostage: Day 175

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$349,560.75 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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"Wal-Marts of An Earlier Age"

Another bang-up piece from the Ludwig von Mises Institute, this one written by Clifford F. Thies:

The attack on Wal-Mart essentially comes down to this: opposition to economic progress, defined as greater availability of goods and services people want, at ever lower prices, indicating an ever wiser use of resources in the service of society.

It is hardly the first time such progress inspired opposition.

In 1868, the Pennsylvania Rail Road organized the first shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables to the northeastern cities of the United States during the "winter" (actually, it was during April). A train — whose cars were filled with 1200 barrels of produce — was loaded in Georgia, and sent north.

After months of having only apples and potatoes and jams, which could be stored in root cellars, the people of Philadelphia and New York were delighted to get fresh fruits and vegetables. As you could imagine, the business expanded rapidly. Specially-designed fruit and vegetable cars were ordered, formerly independent rail lines were integrated into inter-regional networks, and, in Georgia, farmers started growing peach trees along the railroad network, so much so that the state became known as the Peach State.

Such is the transformational character of the market process, always bringing lower cost, higher quality and greater variety of products to consumers, and continually replacing the old ways with new ways.

Only today, the leading agent of change in retailing is no longer the Pennsylvania Rail Road, nor is it the Montgomery Wards mail order house, nor is it the Great Atlantic & Pacific supermarket chain; it's Wal-Mart.

And, just as greenhouse farmers were threatened by the Pennsylvania Rail Road, and just as "Ma and Pa" grocery stores were threatened by A&P, so too does the entry of Wal-Mart into a community pose a threat to local businesses even as it presents expanded opportunities to local consumers.

Every school child knows or should know that the "industrial revolution" tremendously lowered the cost of manufacturing by gathering production from homes into factories, organizing laborers into teams of relatively specialized workers, and supplementing labor with capital. We call this breakthrough in production "the assembly line," and, most famously in the case of the Model T Ford, it brought the cost of an ever expanding array of products within the reach of the masses of consumers.

But, few people are even aware that there has been a parallel revolution in retailing and distribution. Advances in communication, transportation and the management of business enterprises have so expanded the marketplace that, today, we speak of the emergence of a "global market."

At every step along the way, local, skilled craftsmen and independent businesses have had to face the challenge of big businesses entering their market. Suddenly, so it seems, local producers lose their competitiveness in those goods and services amenable to mass production. But, at the same time, the fact that we are all achieving higher standards of living means that new opportunities are opening up for those business men and women who can perceive how consumers would like to spend their increased wealth.

Generally, local, skilled craftsmen and independent businesses have been shifting to higher quality products, specialty shops, and personalized services. For those who understand these changes, the fact that the emergence of the global economy is occurring simultaneously with a vibrant and entrepreneurial small business sector is not at all a paradox.

The transformational change brought about by the market process almost necessarily involves stress and disruption. In addition, in the short-run, there can be winners and losers (although, in the long-run, we are all winners). The great Austrian-born economist Joseph Schumpeter described this messiness as "the creative destruction" of the market process.

Even those of us who appreciate the advantages of the market process — including, in addition to a higher standard of living, the joining of all the people of the world into one, global community, and even an increased ability of each person to actualize his or her potential — even we understand that there are some disadvantages. And, whoever becomes associated with being the foremost agent of change in any given period is going to be blamed for the bad side of the creative destruction of the market process. So it is, today, with Wal-Mart.

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Taxation Without Representation

According to the March 23 edition of the Whitman County Gazette, four of the polling sites in Pullman failed to log a single vote during the March 14 special election.

The 16 precincts in Pullman and Albion only logged 117 votes. Costs of staffing the polling places were $350 each, with some additional rental and transporation costs.

It's no wonder Whitman County has switched to all-mail voting.

Even more concerning, however, was that this election was about raising taxes. Taxes are something we voters frequently complain about. Here was a chance for us to make our voices heard, and hardly anyone stepped up the microphone.

Democracy should not be a spectator sport.

"Zoning is Theft"

When you read this column by Jim Fedako of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, think about:

The Pullman farmer, trying to sell his property to a Wal-Mart developer, who has had to wait over a year and a half as futile appeal after futile appeal, allowed under land use regulations, have to be resolved

The attempt to develop the property willed to Whitworth College in the Pullman-Moscow corridor into a shopping center that is being opposed by the Moscow City Council

The request to rezone the Thompson property in Moscow to Motor Business that was denied by the P&Z Commission

The proposed changes to the Whitman County rural housing ordinance that included "viewshed", lighting, landscaping. etc. requirements

Zoning is theft, pure and simple. In his fantastic introduction to the Austrian School, Economics for Real People, Gene Callahan correctly identifies eminent domain as a form of property theft, especially noting the use of government condemnation in order to secure rightfully owned property for commercial development.

It is easy to see government as the crowbar that influence-seekers use to jimmy locks and force private property owners from their land. Here we have the clear picture of Ma and Pa Kettle and clan fighting the law and "progress" armed only with shotguns, corn squeezing, chewing tobacco and shear grit. The flip side to eminent domain, zoning, is not so easily seen. But as Bastiat revealed, the unseen is as important as the seen.

Zoning is typically defined along the lines of a government-regulated system of land-usage imposed in order to ensure orderly development. Zoning is usually a component of the larger conceptual ideal called regional planning. Of course, planned development is really the name of the road toward planned chaos.

Zoning uses all the standard interventionist lines of thought, most notably the concepts of externalities and utility. Those who advocate zoning really believe that acting man does not have the ability to create communities that are functional and prosperous. Without plans and maps drafted and drawn by the local elected elite, developers with knowledge and foresight, and a whole lot of money to gain or lose, would purposively layout communities that are sterile and functionless. Only the marginal vote-getters — those elected — and their appointed allies are omniscient enough to peer into the crystal ball and define the perfect setting for future life and leisure. The rest of us can only marvel at their visions.

Just as the developer can use government to roll over the rights of property owners, property owners — community members — can use government to roll over the rights of developers and fellow property owners.

In Ohio, townships create zoning maps and comprehensive plans that overlay development regulations on top of current properties. Prior to the establishment of zoning regulations, a farmer could simply sell his land to the highest bidder. No one had a voice in the proposed use of the exchanged land. The sale to a new property owner incorporated full development rights, including continued farming, residential and commercial development, or parceling off pieces for home sites. Land was a commodity similar to the crops grown on it. Just as no one had a right to control the final use of the corn and soybeans reaped from the soil, no one had the right to control the next use of the land. Property rights were secure.

Zoning changed everything. The future use of existing farmland will, with the stroke of a pen, be limited in some manner by zoning regulations. The regulations could restrict future land usage to its current use — farming in this instance — or it could restrict land usage to some other form of activity.

The free market has a tool that allows a property owner to align the future use of his property with his vision, the restrictive covenant. A property owner could, for example, create a legacy by selling his land contingent on the development carrying his family name. Should the property owner be too restrictive, the value of his property will fall. He will be exchanging a psychic good, a family legacy, for cash.

Zoning is another matter altogether. Zoning restricts current landowners based on the local power brokers. In the zoning process, someone gets hurt. Had the farmers of a township wanted to keep the area as farmland, they could have signed restrictive covenants guaranteeing crops instead of homes. Property rights, and the laws that purport to protect those rights, allow individuals to act in their own best interest. Zoning, collective decision-making, use the coercive power of government to restrict usage based on the whims of those in power.

The farmer who owns this land now has his potential property rights bounded within a specific range; future use is restricted to residential developments that have no more than one house per acre. The farmer may vote, and may have voted for some of those elected, but he never agreed to the change in proposed land usage. He was robbed, and there is no means for him to restore his rights and land value; they are gone with the stroke of a pen.

I know some of those in the Chicago School will claim that the farmer implicitly agreed to the loss of land-usage rights by being born in the United States, or of naturalized American parents, or by becoming a citizen through oath. By owning property in the United States, the farmer granted majority ownership in his property to those elected and appointed, the omniscient and omnipotent. This is no way to build and run a system of secure property rights, and no way to create a free market. Rothbard is correct when he constructs his political economy on secure rights to property; anything less is the beginning of the Hayek's Road to Serfdom.

Now we have a developer who is trying to satisfy the urgent wants of consumers, his development could include new homes, new stores, new factories, etc. The developer is a keen entrepreneur who sees a chance to turn a profit by creating a development that will be desired, and therefore profitable to him. The developer settles on a residential development and approaches the farmer from above offering to purchase his land, contingent on final zoning approval of course.

You see, the developer has been here before. He knows the ways of the local officials who approve and disapprove zoning changes on whim and fancy — or even the smallest of political pressure. The developer is not going to consummate the deal with the farmer until he knows that his proposed development is a go.

The farmer, old and worn-out, wants to retire and enjoy, along with his wife, his remaining years in leisure and comfort. This is certainly a reasonable request from someone who has worked the dirt in snow, rain, and blistering heat for decades. Who could reasonably question his desire? Commissioners and board members; those omniscient by vote and omnipotent by law.

Remember that the land was designated to be developed at only one home per acre, but the developer does not think he can make a go of it at that yield. Given the market in the area, there is no way for him to turn a profit due to the myriad of other regulatory hoops he will have to jump through in order to get approval for his development. A host of green-eyed bureaucrats see the proposed development as a tax revenue generator. The developer will have to build off-site roads and sewer improvements, donate a park or school site, and give away money to all those governments with their hands out. In addition, regional officials will balk at the proposal since it does not agree with their vision of the future.

So the developer, a Don Quixote at heart, decides to take on the zoning commission by proposing a variance to the zoning code and comprehensive plan. Mr. Developer needs to build one and a half homes per acre, a change that will require months of hearings where he will be badgered and attacked from the zoning commission and community members alike. The commissioners will request petty changes to the development's conceptual plan based on vague building standards that they most likely do not understand. Is stucco created from natural and man-made materials a natural or artificial exterior? Does 50 microns of aluminum create a better look than 49 microns? Should sidewalks be required? How high should the entrance sign stand? Is fire-red a natural color? Is a 30-foot setback sufficient for future property values? The answers depend on which commissioner has the mike at the time.

Residents with property adjoining the development will complain loudly of supposed lost property values, traffic, and crime. In addition, they will attack the developer as evil incarnate bent on destroying the community. But those same voices will lose the rhetoric as soon as the developer offers all adjacent homeowners landscaping allowances. A few thousand in new trees planted in their backyard is enough to forgive any supposed loss in value, additional traffic, and hypothetical break-in.

So the developer now agrees to build roads, upgrade sewer lines, donate parks with equipment, set aside a school site, and improve residential landscape. What is gently termed exaction is really extortion by another name. After zoning comes township trustees meetings and the process begins all over again. More exactions and more regulations, but trustee approval can be had if the developer does the dollar-dance long enough. Had the developer simply slid a rumpled paper bag of twenty's across the table, a law would have been broken. Instead, the process occurs in the sunshine for all to see, and all to agree that more should have been given — or taken.

All agreed, with the exception of the developer and the forgotten farmer. You see, lost in all this is the simple desire of a farmer and his wife to retire and enjoy life, and maybe leave a little for their grandchildren. Every hand looking for a piece of the development pie is not robbing the developer and redistributing supposed unearned profits; those hands are robbing the farmer and his wife of their property value.

The risk of not passing zoning, the exactions, and readily available alternatives for investment are all reductions to the value the farmer could have obtained for his land absent zoning. The loss of value is recognized at the time the developer makes an offer for the land; the theft, on the other hand, occurs in front of the community that the farm family lived in for generations. It shows what damage a little money and power can cause in a community. Zoning is indeed theft.

HT: Brian P.

Pullman Held Hostage: Day 174

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$347,563.26 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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The Best Damn Op-Ed Piece, Period

From today's Lewiston Tribune. Sit back, enjoy, and prepare to laugh!

COMMENTARY: Michael Costello...A Wal-Mart for the espresso set

There has always been a taint of elitism wafting from the opposition to the construction of a Wal-Mart superstore in Pullman. Most of the time, the ironically misnamed Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development (PARD) concealed its snobbery behind concerns for local businesses, most of which did not ask for PARD's protection, or in the form of complaints that Wal-Mart would not compensate its employees to PARD's standards.

Never mind that those who choose to work for Wal-Mart would be deciding for themselves that the compensation was satisfactory. But knowing what's best for you even if you don't is central to elitism.

PARD even argued that Wal-Mart would harm the local branch of Shopko. Does anyone really believe that PARD cared in the slightest about Shopko's fate?

Wal-Mart opponents have lost every step of the way. The Pullman Office of Public Works found in favor of Wal-Mart. PARD lost a city council election that was contested almost entirely on the issue of Wal-Mart. And most recently, a Pullman hearing examiner denied PARD's appeal.

But not satisfied with the reality that they lost fair and square, PARD is now arguing that approximately six months' worth of complaining on their part did not adequately inform the hearing examiner's decision and that he would have arrived at a different conclusion had he learned the lessons that PARD tried so hard to teach him.

But now it seems that Wal-Mart has adjusted its business model to satisfy the underlying concerns that animate its opponents [See front page of the Business section in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News for the story]. Once the Wal-Mart is built, the tweed-jacketed PARDners will probably be able to purchase $500 bottles of wine or belly up to the sushi bar and treat their palates to raw fish and seaweed. That's because Wal-Mart has decided to modify what it offers within its walls to conform to the specific cultures of the communities it serves.

This should go a long way toward addressing one major concern of Pullman's Wal-Mart opponents -- that Wal-Mart would invite the "intrusion of undesirable social elements" into the community (see page 8 of the examiner's report). While the wienies and french fries sold at the Lewiston store might satisfy that demographic's tastes, PARDners will be satisfied with nothing less than croissant and bean sprout sandwiches, or spicy hummus and water crackers, washed down with a Starbuck's green tea frappucino chaser.

That should keep those undesirable social elements from crossing onto PARD's side of the tracks.

Indeed, Wal-Mart is reacting to elitists who prefer to buy identical items at higher prices from more prestigious storefronts. Certainly the proliferation of high-priced coffee shops in Pullman proves that to many it matters more where you are seen buying coffee than the contents of the cup itself. Otherwise, people would just buy a Mr. Coffee and an occasional can of Folger's, as I do. From a quality standpoint, Ben and Jerry's ice cream is really quite ordinary, but patrons really want the checkout clerk to know that they are willing to pay much more than it is worth and because a small fraction goes to save rain forests, or something.

Similarly, Wal-Mart plans to sell high-end, brand-name high-definition plasma televisions as well as the standard, low-priced cathode-ray-tube models labeled "assembled in big hurry." Even the look will be different. The standard Wal-Mart red, white and blue exterior will be replaced by two-toned brick and mortar look. Employee uniforms in these trendy, upscale Wal-Mart stores are to be khaki pants and polo shirts. Only Mao jackets would make PARDners feel more at home. Put Birkenstock sandals on the employees' feet, and no one would ever guess that they came to Pullman from those undesirable social classes.

All Wal-Mart has to do now is place sofas and coffee tables in its book section and allow PARDners to read the New York Times free of charge.

Meanwhile, once Wal-Mart rolls over PARD's latest speed bump and the store is built, I will be in there for the low prices. I grew up as a member of what PARDners would undoubtedly consider an undesirable social class and still I feel more comfortable drinking cervezas and crunching cheecharones in the company of my socially undesirable Mexican family and friends than I ever would be at a wine- and cheese-tasting party with the likes of PARD.

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Guessing Game - ANSWERS

The company name and location in the blanks here are:

Company: Starbucks
Location: Missoula

The excerpts I listed were from an editorial in yesterday's Missoulian.

Isn't this quote just so applicable to Pullman and Wal-Mart?

It's an encouraging reflection of how well things are going in Missoula these days that little else is causing as much teeth-gnashing among the local intelligentsia than the impending opening of a downtown Starbucks coffee shop.

It seems that local intelligentsia everywhere are not happy unless they are bitching about something. Of course, no one lifted a finger when THREE Starbucks opened in Pullman over the last few years. There's no baristas union actively fighting them to fund the battle.

I commend the entire editorial to you.

Know Your Enemy

In approximately a month, attorneys hired by the United Food and Commerical Workers will venture over from Seattle to Colfax to argue a legal appeal that has no chance of success. This appeal will cost Pullman taxpayers thousands of dollars to defend against.

Who is the UFCW, and why are they turning Pullman into a battlefield?

From UnionFacts.com:

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) represents approximately 1.3 million U.S. employees in industries ranging from meatpacking and food processing to manufacturing and retail grocers.

"If we can't organize [nonunion supermarkets]," says Tom McNutt, president of Local 400 of the UFCW, "the best thing to do is to erode their business as much as possible." This is the slash-and-burn theory driving UFCW's political-style PR offensive against Wal-Mart. Because the union has failed to organize workers at the chain, its leaders want to harm the company's bottom line and its employees.

"Organizing is war," according to longtime UFCW leader Joe Crump, and that means harassing nonunion employers and "costing them enough time and energy and money to either eliminate them or get them to surrender to the union."

So why wage war against Wal-Mart? The graphs below give the answer.



The UFCW is dying, as are all non-public sector unions. That's why GM is offering to pay up to $140,000 to get rid of a 1/3 of its union workers. The UFCW's assets and members are declining. Unionizing Wal-Mart, with it's 1.3 million U.S. employees, would instantly double the UFCW's membership and replenish its coffers.

And let's take a look at how that money is spent. In 2004:

The International union headquarters paid former president Doug Dority more than $700,000 in salary and benefits.

The International paid $309,000 to retired executive vice president Sarah Amos and another $256,000 to retired International executive vice president Michael Leonard --again, as salary.

262 UFCW officials across the country made more than $100,000 in salary.

Now THOSE are some "living wage" jobs.

Speaking of hypocrisy, remember how the UFCW charges Wal-Mart with all sorts of "unethical business and labor practices"?

In late 2005, the former assistant to the president of UFCW International, Joseph DiFlumera, was sentenced for mail fraud, racketeering, and extorting more than $1.5 million from a grocery chain. DiFlumera told prosecutors that he would offer an "insurance policy" that allowed a company to "come under the umbrella" of protection from union organizing. DiFlumera "repeatedly advised these individuals that the monies paid to him were handed over to the president of Local 1445 and the UFCW. The defendant insisted that if these monies were not paid by the company the company would suffer extreme economic harm."

Former UFCW International secretary-treasurer Joseph Talarico pled guilty to his role in embezzling $2 million from Local 1. He was ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution. In related indictments for defrauding UFCW, his son was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to repay $81,000 in embezzled funds; his daughter was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to repay $26,000; and his brother pled guilty to embezzling $650,000 from the union. Together, the four family members made more than $1 million in salaries from the local in 1996.

In 1993, Newsday reported that UFCW founder William Wynn traveled in a $5 million union-owned jet plane and sold his house to the union for $620,000 (nearly twice the appraised price) -- and continued to live there for at least three years. The paper reported that in addition to Wynn's salary of $263,000 ($346,000 adjusted for inflation), he was reimbursed for $80,000 in expenses the previous year. It further noted that a reformer seeking to unseat Wynn "said that Wynn's salary and perks are a disgrace when put in the context of the incomes of the workers he represents" and had research that showed "Wynn's salary rose 122 percent from 1980 to 1992, while the average meat packing worker's wages went up 3 percent over that period."

The National Labor Relations Board investigates instances of union violations of the National Labor Relations Act and other labor laws. Unfair Labor Practices include instances of bad faith bargaining, excessive dues, violence, threats and many other violations. The table below shows some of the allegations filed against the UFCW since 2000:

Eastern Washington is represented by UFCW Local 1439. You may recall that Anthony Walters, a representative of UFCW Local 1439, spoke after the anti-Wal-Mart movie was shown in a taxpayer-funded facility on the WSU campus. This of course was right after PARD spokesman Chris Lupke denied that PARD had any union affiliations.

On a unrelated note, there is an interesting link on the UFCW Local 1439 site called Stop Winco. The website, however, has not been developed yet.

Pullman Held Hostage: Day 173

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$345,565.77 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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Guessing Game

See if you can fill in the blanks below for company name and location. I’ll post the answers later.

Concerns brewing over company coming to location are misplaced.

It's an encouraging reflection of how well things are going in location these days that little else is causing as much teeth-gnashing among the local intelligentsia than the impending opening of a company.

Oh, the horror!

Company has become one of the most familiar brands on the planet. This annoys those people who believe bigger is never better.

Anti-company fervor is proof that many people believe you should shop where they want you to shop, not where you'd prefer to.

Company is profitable. That will always get you in trouble in some circles.

Company also suffers from the same failing assigned to other major corporations - it hasn't solved world problems, such as Third World poverty.

These aren't high-paying jobs, but they're plentiful with flexible hours, and they help pay rent or tuition.

Actually, it may not be possible to hate company without also opposing free enterprise, entrepreneurialism and capitalism in general. It's a shining example of all three.

"Pullman Wal-Mart opponents take appeal to superior court"

From the March 23, 2006 edition of the Whitman County Gazette:

The Pullman Wal-Mart dispute moved into Whitman County Superior Court Friday when attorneys for Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development filed a land use petition. The filing challenges the Feb. 24 ruling issued by John Montgomery, Spokane attorney who acted as hearing officer for the PARD appeal against the city of Pullman decision which allowed the Wal-Mart plan to advance.

Wal-Mart has proposed a 223,000 square foot Supercenter ona 28-acre parcel on Bishop Boulevard in Pullman.

Friday's land use petition was filed by David A. Bricklin and Jennifer Dold from Seattle. The 20-page petition was filed three days before the March 20 deadline for a court appeal of the decision made by Montgomery.

Listed as respondents of the petition were CLC Associates of Spokane Valley, the firm developing the Wal-Mart project, City of Pullman and S&W Land Co. of Colfax, owners of the Bishop Boulevard site.

The petition asks the court to void the site plan and remand it to the city with directions to deny it. It also asks for an order reversing the city's determination of non-significance and remanding it for an environmental impact study.

The petition noted members of PARD live in close proximity to the supercenter site. Those residents would be injured or prejudiced by increased traffic generated by Wal-Mart, insufficient access to Pullman Regional Hospital on Bishop Boulevard and slower response time by emergency equipment, the petition said. [What a load of bovine fecal material]

The petition contends the appeal hearing included unlawful procedure and erroneous interpretations not supported by evidence [Yeah, PARD's case] It said the hearing examiner incorrectly concluded the project was consistent with Pullman City Codes and ignored the applicable goals, polices [sic] and standards in the city's comprehensive plan.

The petition alleges 16 specific errors made by the examiner. Among them was allowing thr city to fail to undertake a fiscal impact study and approving of the plan while Wal-Mart was allowed to withhold information on traffic impact.

Also listed were 40 points on which PARD relies to sustain a statement of error on the part of Montgomery, the hearing examiner.

A copy of Montgomery's Feb. 24 decision on the hearings was attached to the petition. The petition filing includes a summons which requires a response withing [sic] 20 days after the respondents receive notice of the suit. A preliminary hearing has been slated on the court's April 28 civil matters calendar.

The PARD appeal which led to the hearing by Montgomery contests Pullman's determination of non-significance on the project under the State Environmental Policy Act and approval of a site plan for the project. Those decisions were issued in August and September by Pullman Public Works Director Mark Workman.

In its petition to the court PARD is described as a diverse non-profit organization comprised of business people, religious leaders, working people, teachers, students, retirees, and homemakers, among others. [BWHAAAHAAAHAAA!!!!! "I'll take Perjurous PC Platitudes for $500 Alex"]

PARD was formed after the initial announcment of Wal-Mart's plans for the Supercenter were made in the fall of 2004.

Take a look at PARD's contact page. Out of 13 (12 really, as Tina Vona-Pergola is no longer in the area) names listed, I count:

1 Associate Dean
1 Department Chair
2 Associate Professors
3 Assistant Professors
1 Instructor

All in Liberal Arts

That's a pretty diverse group of "business and working people" alright. Very reflective of the community in general.

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Pullman Held Hostage: Day 172

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$343,568.28 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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Time for a Positive Message About Pullman

From April Coggins, Pullman's Biggest Booster.

It's time to focus on Pullman's future. We have eight multi-million dollar projects in progress or scheduled to start soon. They are:

Palouse Ridge Golf Course

CUB Renovation

Widening of SR 270

Wal-Mart Supercenter

Pullman-Moscow Corridor Shopping Center

Martin Stadium Renovation

Schweitzer Engineering Labs New Corporate Headquarters and Event Center

Life Sciences Building - REC2


This doesn't include the hundreds of new homes and small businesses that are being built. Pullman is growing! And to paraphrase Martha Stewart, "That's a good thing."

The End Is In Sight - UPDATE

In answer to Ray's question concerning the PARD/UFCW appeal hearing, the March 23 edition of the Whitman County Gazette reports the following:

A preliminary hearing has been slated on the court's April 28 civil matters calendar.

More from the Gazette later.

Pullman Held Hostage: Day 171

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$341,570.79 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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Pullman Held Hostage: Day 170

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$339,573.30 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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The End Is In Sight

According to a NewsTalk 1150 KQQQ report this morning, the PARD/UFCW Wal-Mart appeal will be heard by the Whitman County Superior Court before April 28.

Pullman Held Hostage: Day 169

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$337,575.81 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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Treating the Symptoms

The Daily News ran a story today about a lawsuit pending against Initiative 747, which voters approved in 2001. I-747 was Tim Eyman's tax-cutting followup to the controversial I-695, this time attacking property taxes and capping them to a 1% increase each year. Not surprisingly, this hasn't been an overly pleasing constraint for cash-strapped counties who have depended heavily on property tax revenues to fill in the gaps left by other tax shortfalls (we'll come back to this later). From the article:

"Initiative 747 is destroying our junior tax districts," Commissioner Jerry Finch said in a telephone interview Friday. "Our junior tax districts are slowly but surely using up all of their reserves. Eventually, they will look to the county for operating money. The county doesn't have it."

Sound familiar?

I have to wonder, however, how much of this bemoaning I-747 is a result of having used higher property taxes to compensate for other tax-related problems? In the case of Pullman, the largest employer and land owner, WSU, doesn't pay a penny in property taxes. Combine this with the hundreds of thousands of dollars we lose in sales tax revenue to neighboring communities, and it's clear that the problem isn't with property taxes. In our case, half of every dollar a resident spends is outside the city. That is a serious problem, and upping property taxes is only treating the symptom.

Now, I'm well aware of the fact that Pullman is a somewhat unique case, and not all of the state's "junior tax districts" are in a similar situation. I must ask though, are all of our communities being as responsible with their spending as is reasonable? The article used only the example of libraries, so I'll stick to that.

"A lack of revenue growth has become a heart-breaking fact of life for the county library system. Even though the library saw about a 28 percent increase in participation in youth programs in 2005, it can't offer anything new or different to kids excited about reading, and that "is very unfortunate for the community," Kirkpatrick said.

Wait a minute, Horton can still hear a Who, right? Holden Caulfield is still depressed and sarcastic, isn't he? What exactly has changed so much that kids aren't going to read books if we don't hike property taxes to make them new and exciting? Are we turning children away from the library these days? Maybe I'm just getting cynical, but this seems like a bit of a leap to me.

I'm certainly not advocating eliminating community programs by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it is wise for us to take a page from the play book of private industry and seriously focus on stretching our existing dollars as far as they will go before holding out our hands for more. Maybe the libraries do need a heaping influx of additional funding to fulfill a community need, but I have a very hard time believing that every facet of Washington government is running with such ruthless efficiency that another tax hike is the only answer.

Is the 1% annual cap on property tax increases too low? Perhaps, but the real question in my mind is if increasing them will actually be solving the problem, or merely treating the symptoms of a more troubling issue.

Can We Drop the Facade Already?

Shame on me. I missed another attorney from Bricklin Newman Dold. Associate Ryan Vancil led the long fight against Wal-Mart over in Poulsbo.

From the May 2, 2003 Kitsap Sun (Free registration required):

Wal-Mart opponents have formed a nonprofit group to raise funds for a lawyer to challenge the company's move to Poulsbo.

…The group met this week with Ryan Vancil, an attorney with Bricklin Newman and Dold, LLP. The firm represented the citizens' group Grow Smart in its appeal of the master plan for the Olhava development, where Wal-Mart plans to open in 2004.

Same old story there too. From the May 31, 2003 Kitsap Sun (Free registration required):

Citizens to Stop Wal-Mart filed an appeal Thursday, saying the city needs to do a second study of the impacts the retailer will have on the area.

The appeal claims that traffic, sewage, storm-water and air quality issues at the Olhava development have changed since the first environmental impact study and that a supplemental report should be done.

If only Pullman could be like Poulsbo. Then we wouldn’t be $17,000 plus in the hole and dealing with frivolous appeal after frivolous appeal. From the July 15, 2003 Kitsap Sun (Free registration required):

Citizens Against Wal-Mart paid $915 it owes Poulsbo for consultant fees after the city warned that it might cancel the next hearing against the store.

The hearing, the fifth held by the City Council, will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Christ Memorial Church.

…The city's code is written so that the cost of an appeal is borne by the appellants, not the city. The city will pay some expenses, such as room rental and sound recording costs, Bjorkman said.

Essentially, the appellants are paying for witnesses for their opposition.

…When the $3,000 ran out, the city sent a letter to Ryan Vancil, the group's attorney, telling him the fees would have to be paid before the hearings could continue.

Sadly for Mr. Vancil, the anti-Wal-Mart forces lost in Poulsbo too. From the November 20, 2005 Kitsap Sun:

The effort to keep Wal-Mart out of Poulsbo didn't work. And now with that store set to open in a few months, some seek to keep shoppers out.

Ryan Vancil, an attorney who led the legal fight to keep the Wal-Mart out of Poulsbo, said after the movie [Wal-Mart: The High Cost of a Low Price] that there isn't any realistic legal recourse now for those opposed to the retailer. But, he added, they can "vote with their dollars."

Too bad the “vote with their dollars” approach versus the “fight them in court infinitely” wasn’t taken earlier. It would have saved everybody a lot of trouble.

Vancil also did some work in Yelm as well.

So you can include Poulsbo in the list of places where the UFCW and anti-Wal-Mart forces in Washington have been defeated in the last few years. You’ll be able to add Pullman soon.

Michaels Update

A follow-up on last week’s Michaels rumor from Dale Courtney at Right Mind:

As a follow-up to my previous post (The Rumor Around Town), the following is a Market View alert from Charles Schwab:

Michaels Stores (MIK) is sharply higher in early action after the company said it is considering strategic alternatives, including the sale of the company. Additionally, the company's president and CEO R. Michael Rouleau will retire, and Jeffrey Boyer and Gregory Sandfort have been named co-presidents.

The saga continues.

Look for the Union Label

In my previous post on PARD's union hired gun law firm of Bricklin Newman Dold, I somehow neglected to mention partner Claudia Newman. According to the (Everett) Daily Herald, she's also got a docket full of fighting Wal-Mart:

A small group of residents, with help from a Seattle labor union, has been fighting the plan in recent months. Resident groups in Arlington and Marysville are fighting proposed Wal-Mart stores in those cities as well. The Mill Creek group has collected about 3,000 signatures opposing the store.

...Wal-Mart's estimate of more than 5,000 trips generated by the store per day is low, said Seattle attorney Claudia Newman, who was hired by groups fighting Wal-Mart stores in Arlington and Marysville as well as the one in Mill Creek.

At least the good folks in Mill Creek are not afraid to give a shout-out to their union backers. From the Daily Herald again:

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Seattle has been paying the bulk of the cost for an attorney to fight approval of the store, Lowe said. Residents have been chipping in, and raised $750 in a holiday sale recently, she said.

"We're trying to help out," Bonham said.

And the Mill Creek Enterprise:

"Talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors, talk to people at your church (about Wal-Mart)," urged Heather Golden, an organizer with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1001.

In addition to a petition drive, attendees made preliminary plans to stand on local street corners waving signs opposing Wal-Mart.

Tuesday's decisions are the result of a national movement battling the company and its business practices. Spearheaded by national labor unions like the UFCW and the Teamsters, the movement, called Wake-Up Wal-Mart, seeks to change those practices.

"A number of local unions in this area have contributed money to our efforts," said Golden. "So far we've used that money to hire a land-use lawyer. (Claudia Newman)."

What do you think Lu Laoshi? Will you finally recant the statement you made in the Daily News last November?:

I have no special expertise nor have I received any help, training, support or funding from any such national union movement. I am not a member of a union nor is anyone in my family.

At a recent Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development meeting, I asked if anyone was – no one raised their hand.

The common theme in all the fights against Wal-Mart in Mount Vernon, Yelm, Yakima, Mill Creek, Arlington, Marysville, and yes, Pullman, is traffic. Who would have thought that a grocery store workers union would care so much about traffic?

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Same S#%t, Different Town

The Seattle law firm of Bricklin Newman Dold are PARD's new union hired guns handling the appeal to the Whitman County Superior Court.

Partner David Bricklin also handled the Yelm Commerce Group's fight against a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Yelm last year. After Wal-Mart's application was approved, the Yelm Commerce Group was ecstatic that the United Food & Commerical Workers union was going to continue to pick up Mr. Bricklin's tab for an appeal:

Are you sitting down?

The Yelm Commerce Group was infomed by our lawyer David Bricklin that the UFCW (grocery store workers union) has decided that our case against Wal-Mart had merit and asked Mr. Bricklin to move ahead with the appeal.

Funny, Bricklin Newman Dold's website doesn't mention the UFCW as a client.

Too bad for the YCG though. According to The Olympian, their appeal was denied earlier this year:

A Thurston County Superior Court judge dismissed a last-ditch effort Friday by opponents of Wal-Mart to revive an earlier land-use appeal after the deadline to file it was missed by 10 minutes.

The Yelm Commerce Group, a 50-member group that has been fighting the arrival of the Wal-Mart Supercenter since fall 2004, had appealed a Yelm City Council decision to Thurston County Superior Court after the council voted to uphold a hearing examiner’s findings to proceed with the Wal-Mart project.

...May [ed: director of the Yelm Commerce Group], after consulting with attorney David Alan Bricklin, who had argued the group’s case at Friday’s court hearing, came to the mutual decision not to pursue another appeal.

“We could appeal the appeal ... but no, it’s really a long shot,” May said.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Paula Casey’s decision and the Yelm Commerce Group’s capitulation brings to an end a sometimes contentious process in which the group had appealed various stages of Wal-Mart’s plans to build a new store.

...Afterward, Bricklin explained that his “normally reliable process server” got stuck in traffic and spent an hour traveling from Thurston County Superior Court in Olympia to Yelm on Jan. 18.

As I mentioned previously, partner Jennifer Dold represented UFCW Local 44 in their fight against Wal-Mart in Mount Vernon last year. That appeal failed also.

So what are PARD's chances? Zero. But to quote from Willie Nelson, "If you've got the money honey, I've got the time, we'll go Wal-Mart appealin' and we'll have a time"

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Pullman Held Hostage: Day 168

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$335,578.32 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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Pullman Held Hostage: Day 167

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$333,580.83 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

Technorati Tags: wal-mart walmart

"Appeals target corridor shopping center, Wal-Mart"

AKA, "Moonbats attempt to stop all growth"

So I guess the Moscow City Council IS that fanatical. The war is on. Don't you love how outside interests (union lawyers, the Moscow City Council) are trying to control our economic growth and development? Time to get mad Pullman.

A few dozen left-wing activists in both towns are setting the agenda. So instead of cooperation, we now have controversy. Instead of quality of life, we now have division. And all because a bunch of snobby eggheads read a book by Al Norman, or surfed the Wal-Mart Watch web site, or watched a union-funded propaganda movie, or attended a lecture on "smart growth". They won't be happy until they have chased every off every new business thinking of moving to the Palouse.

From today's Lewiston Tribune:

By DAVID JOHNSON
of the Tribune

COLFAX -- Two retail development appeals were filed here Friday, one aimed at a proposed shopping center adjacent to Moscow, and the second targeting construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pullman.

The city of Moscow filed an appeal with the Whitman County Commission challenging county planner Mark Bordsen's decision approving a shopping center on the Idaho-Washington border.

Meanwhile, members of a group called the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development (PARD) filed an appeal in Whitman County Superior Court requesting reversal of a city decision allowing a Wal-Mart Supercenter on Bishop Boulevard.

Shopping center appeal:

Moscow city supervisor Gary Riedner said Friday the city's appeal of a proposed shopping center just over the border in Whitman County is not an attempt to stop the development. He said the appeal, however, addresses serious environmental concerns that demand attention.

Mark Bordsen, planning director for Whitman County, declined comment on the appeal. But he said earlier that he stands by his determination that the proposed shopping center, possibly anchored by a Lowe's home improvement center and two other big-box stores, poses no significant environmental threat.

The appeal, filed for Moscow by Spokane attorney Peter G. Scott, is eight pages long and addresses 10 areas that, according to the document, lack thorough analysis. The areas include transportation, air quality, odor [odor?], water resources, wetlands, water quality, construction impacts, storm water, land use, and emergency services.

"In sum, the county did not undertake the analysis required to make a determination that the proposed commercial development can be mitigated so that it will not have significant adverse environmental impacts," the appeal reads.

The document echoes a letter of concern mailed to Whitman County officials recently by Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney. The letter was one of 11 sent by various people and entities expressing concerns. Three Pullman officials were among those who sent letters. Moscow, however, was the only entity to follow through with an appeal by Friday's 2:30 p.m. deadline.

Moscow's appeal is filed under authority of Washington's State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).

Bordsen initially issued a mitigated determination of non-significance for the shopping center proposal. The only conditions he placed on construction addressed the need for a traffic study prior to business occupancy, and wetland mitigations if necessary.

The shopping center is being proposed by Hawkins Companies, a Boise-based development company. According to a conceptual drawing, the complex would be built on 110 acres adjacent to Highway 270 and provide more than 600,000 square feet of retail store space.

A hearing date for the Moscow appeal before the three Whitman County commissioners had not been set as of Friday.

Wal-Mart appeal:

PARD members made good on their announcement earlier in the week by filing a 20-page appeal against the city of Pullman, S&W Land Company and the Spokane-based CLC Associates development company.

"The super center will have a myriad of negative impacts upon the surrounding community and residents that have not been addressed or mitigated by Wal-Mart or the City of Pullman," the appeal reads.

The document lists more than 20 purported errors or failures allegedly made by a hearing examiner who heard more than three days of testimony on an earlier PARD appeal. The examiner, in essence [in essence?], ruled against PARD by leaving the Wal-Mart development avenue open as long as a few traffic conditions and other minor considerations were addressed.

"Addressing PARD's issues (or failing to address them) in this way is inconsistent with the above standards and PARD's constitutional and due process right to a meaningful hearing," the appeal contends.

Among other things, PARD requests that the court issue orders that would reverse the SEPA determination of non-significance, require preparation of an environmental impact statement and void the site plan for the Wal-Mart project. The document also request that attorney fees and costs be awarded to PARD. [I pray the city asks for the same thing to cover taxpayer expenses for this worthless boondoggle]

It's appropriate these appeals were filed on the same day, as PARD and the Moscow City Council are ideological birds of a feather. It's also appropriate that both appeals were filed in Colfax. Colfax is where both of these little socialist Napoleons will meet their Waterloo.

I'll Slip an Extra Signature on the Barbie For You

Three residents of Perth, Australia, 9466 miles away, have “pledged not to shop at or work for Wal-Mart if they establish a store in Pullman”. Residents of Chile, the U.K., Finland, New Orleans, Kansas, etc., etc. have all joined in the global boycott. Gosh, you have to admire the moral fortitude it takes to make a commitment like that.

These amusing tidbits come directly from the infamous PARD petition, which Palousitics has obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. A big thanks to April Coggins for all the painstaking research.

In a letter to Lee Scott, the CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, dated May 23, 2005, PARD stated that:

“We have gathered more than 7500 signatures so far of people who feel strongly enough that they have pledged to refuse to shop in or work for your mall should it be built here. All signatures have been gathered from consumers in the area by local, unpaid volunteers. For our small town this is a phenomenal number. We have at least 1000 more signatures on our petition from Pullman residents than the number who voted in the last city election, and we believe it indicates that a majority of citizens here oppose the building of your massive big box discount center.”

“Gathered from consumers in the area?” Some 13% of the PARD petition signatures are not even from Pullman-Moscow.

“For our small town this is a phenomenal number?” “Indicates that a majority of citizens here oppose Wal-Mart?” Nearly half (43.2%) of the 9,511 signatures are from non-Pullman residents, including:

2,363 from Moscow
1,269 from outside of Pullman, Moscow, or Whitman County
398 from Whitman County other than Pullman
81 unknown (not identified or illegible)

It’s phenomenally dishonest to pad your petition numbers with signatures from the four corners of the Earth.

Let’s break those numbers down further.

26,590 (2005 Pullman population)
- 18,690(2005 WSU Pullman enrollment)
- 3,237 (Children under 18)
= 4,663 full-time adult Pullman residents

5,400 Pullman signatures
-70.29% percentage of WSU students in Pullman population
= 1,604 full-time adult Pullman residents who likely signed PARD petition

1,604/4,663 = 34.4% of full-time adult Pullman residents signed PARD petition

This number aligns very nicely with the percentage of votes cast for anti-Wal-Mart candidates in last November’s Ward 1 and Ward 3 City Council elections:

1,179 Bill Paul
549 Ann Heath
342 Joshua Coke
= 2,070 pro-Wal-Mart candidate votes

406 Judy Krueger
365 Gary Johnson
= 771 anti-Wal-Mart candidate votes

771/2,841 = 27.1% of votes cast in Wards 1 and 3 for anti-Wal-Mart candidates

Sorry, Lu Laoshi, any way you cut it, that ain't a "great deal of opposition". (HT: Dale Courtney). That's why you can't get enough donations in the community to pay for your appeal. You have to turn to the union-paid "activist". UFCW Local 44 lost in Mount Vernon. And the anti-Wal-Mart activists that ran for the City Council there last November got their butts kicked too. Why do you feel PARD's chances are better?

Look for more about PARD's petition and appeal (we just received a copy hot off the presses) in the days to come.

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All Bark, No Bite?

Unconfirmed reports from the Whitman County Courthouse state that no appeal of the SEPA MDNS for the Hawkins Companies development was filed by anyone today before the deadline, including the Moscow City Council.

I repeat this is unconfirmed. The appeal may have been filed some other way.

If this turns out to be true, however, then the Moscow City Council may not be as fanatical as they appear to be on the surface. A Moscow appeal of the corridor development would lead to tremendous (and expensive) legal challenges and a "border war" between Whitman County and Moscow.

Pullman Held Hostage: Day 166

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal on October 3 2005, Pullman has lost:

$331,583.34 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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Goodbye to the CUB as we know it

There is a new plan at
http://www.livingat.wsu.edu/urec/cubrfp/APPENDIX_A.pdf
that covers changes to Wilson Road and area. The WSU Fire/Police station are gone. The turn around is gone. The CUB parking lot is gone.

The closest parking will be the library garage parking lot that is a pay lot unless you have a permit. How is this going to help the Bookie with sales? Making people park a longer distance away to get there. Crimson and Grey must be loving that. People can go there and park and be nice and close.

If you have heard me on the air for the last year I have been critical of the Booking taking over 1/4 of the CUB. A space for the students that is being taken. Student organizations fighting for space in a student building. It seems clear to me there are problems with this plan. That is why you now hear me talk about the Bookie Mall instead of the CUB.

Invoice for PARD

Since PARD filed its Site Plan appeal last October, Pullman has lost:

$319,608.25 in sales and property tax revenues (based on data presented at the appeal hearing by Johnson Gardner and the Whitman County Assessor's Office)

$16,980.65 in direct fees associated with the appeal (based on figures from Pullman Finance Director Troy Woo)

Incalculable hours of the city staff's time spent in preparation for and attendance at the appeal hearings, keeping them from other important business of the people

In return, PARD has gained:

An increased contribution (anywhere from 21% to 100%) from Wal-Mart for a traffic light at Grand and Fairmount that was already planned

A traffic light at Bishop and Pro Mall Blvd. that will never exist

DEMAND THAT PARD END THIS COSTLY POLITICAL THEATER NOW!!!

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