Justice Denied...But Not For Much Longer

In his November 29 letter to the editor of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News reprinted below, Don Pelton spoke of "justice delayed is justice denied" with regards to PARD's lengthy and costly appeals to stop Wal-Mart from coming to Pullman. According to the PARD Doomsday Clock above, that delay will be over in less than 24 hours.....

Wal-Mart saga continues

Oct. 19 was the date set by the court of appeals in Spokane to hear the appeal from the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development to block construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pullman. But it did not happen. Although the notice of appeal had been filed with the court almost a year earlier, PARD filed notice of its own intention to present oral arguments in addition to the usual written briefs. This stopped the clock again. Now the court has set Dec. 19 to hear a few minutes of vocal pleading.

PARD's appeals have already consumed about two years in legal maneuvers. This new action will add more months.

It is true: "Justice delayed is justice denied." There are only two issues in PARD's appeal: Wal-Mart will compete with existing businesses, and Wal-Mart will add to traffic congestion in Pullman.

Competition arises because Wal-Mart's inventory of about 150,000 items is so large that at least one item will compare with some product in every business. This could wipe out most stores including even Brused Books because Wal-Mart sells an occasional book.

Traffic congestion will result when sophisticated Pullman shoppers drive to Bishop Boulevard in order to shop. Apparently so many of our friends and neighbors are Wal-Mart shoppers that they will clog city streets preventing emergency vehicles from reaching the hospital and school buses from getting children to school. Where are these folks now? This will happen even though 5,000 persons in a population of 27,000 pledged never to shop at a Pullman Wal-Mart.

Thus Wal-Mart's saga goes on and on.

Don Pelton, Pullman

Technorati Tags: wal-mart walmart