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.