Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Thursday, April 06, 2006

¿Wal-Mart? ¡Que Naco!

God bless Elizabeth Siler. Her letter to the editor in today’s Moscow-Pullman Daily News demonstrates as clearly as I have yet seen the art house snobbery that characterizes our Pullman Wal-Mart opposition. She’s against a Supercenter because it “will dry up small businesses and restaurants that cater to our WSU students and faculty.” To hell with the rest of us who live and work in Pullman and Whitman County. It’s only their “diverse interests and tastes” that matter. Just so the “diversity” doesn’t include the undesirable social classes who frequent Wal-Mart. Très déclassé.

That’s JUST what our little rural town needs to be is more like Montlake or Berkeley, with all the “interesting little shops”, perhaps even trendy galleries where one could find “paintings, drawings and ceramics done in a colorful, edgy, funny, innovative and pop-expressionistic style” that sell for $10,000.

Liz tries to pass herself off as just another good old, down home, long-time resident of Pullman who has no affiliation with those heroic PARDners. Ummmm, not quite. Not suprisingly, Siler is yet ANOTHER member of the WSU College of Liberal Arts faculty (ESL Specialist, Department of English). Even more revealing, take a look at her resumé here. At the bottom, under “Professional References Available on Request:” you will find DR. T. V. REED (DEPARTMENT OF AMERICAN STUDIES)!!!!!

Nice try T.V, but a shill by any other name is just as illegitimate. What other co-worker can you get to write a letter? I'm still waiting to hear from all the "wage workers"and "farmers" PARD claims as part of its membership.

Wal-Mart will destroy Pullman

I understand there are some people who think only two dozen people are opposed to constructing a Wal-Mart in Pullman. Please make that two dozen plus one. I have lived here (with a few years off) since 1970. In that time, I’ve seen the development of the entire hill behind Lincoln Junior High School – the housing developments, the Shopko, and the smaller businesses. I am certainly not opposed to some development in Pullman to meet the needs of expanding population.

My concern about Wal-Mart stems from a basic problem I’ve seen in Pullman over the years: we’ve never really been able to develop a “U-district” such as one sees at universities such as University of Washington, University of California (Berkeley), or University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana). By “U-district” I mean a district of small businesses and restaurants that cater to the diverse interests and tastes of our students and faculty. A U-district helps to make a university an exciting and appealing place for students from around the country and around the world. In the past few years, I’ve seen a few businesses that are typical of what one finds in a U-district start up. Some have succeeded; some haven’t. I fear adding a Wal-Mart to the landscape would simply dry up the economy and dash all hopes of ever developing such a district in Pullman.

There is plenty of evidence to support this fear. I recently visited a once-charming town in the Napa Valley, which I remembered from the 1980s as a place full of interesting little shops, a place bustling with economic activity. Three big boxes later, the downtown of that same town is empty and boarded up. Is that what we want for Pullman? Is that what we want for Washington State University?

Elizabeth Siler, Pullman
UPDATE: April Coggins writes:

Elizabeth was the meek lady that I refered to when I posted this on the last day of the Wal-Mart hearings:
"One of Greg Hooks subordinates wants us to have a study about how Moscow and Pullman can have a more appealing downtown. Her suggestion was that we do an international study and find out what will appeal to (apparently only white people) to locals. We are a country of immigrants and we should suppport that"
I explained her words to you that day and included "subordinate" because the woman was clearly intimidated and she felt compelled to explain herself to a clearly hostile audience. It was a sad day for free and open speech among the acedemia of WSU.
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2 comments:

April E. Coggins said...

Which town in California did she visit? Can we please have the name of the town so that we can research this fictitous town's history? Probably not because the story is false. Please ignore the little man behind the curtain.

Pullman is not big enough to support a "U" district. My Pullman business can't afford to be isolated into a "U" district. My business depends on farmers, construction workers, and out of area shoppers. My customers are blue collar/red state Americans.

As much as these elitists wish we would go away, some of us in Pullman are necessary evils. We keep their cars running, their garbage picked up and their sewers clean. PARD has complete contempt for the working class. They view people that work outside of academia to be "slaves" and "unskilled" and an "undesirable social class."

April E. Coggins said...

Elizebeth was the meek lady that I refered to when I posted this on the last day of the Wal-Mart hearings:

"One of Greg Hooks subordinates wants us to have a study about how Moscow and Pullman can have a more appealing downtown. Her suggestion was that we do an international study and find out what will appeal to (apparently only white people) to locals. We are a country of immigrants and we should suppport that"

I explained her words to you that day and included "subordinate" because the woman was clearly intimated and she felt compelled to explain herself to a clearly hostile audience. It was a sad day for free and open speach among the acedemia of WSU.