Everybody Loves Raymond

Raymond Sacchi wrote the following letter to the editor in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

As a pro-business Republican, I was intrigued to find the formation of a new "citizen group" called Business and Residents for Economic Opportunity (BREO-"bray-oh"). So I did a little Internet research on the founding members. And what I found appalled me. BREO co-founder Tom Forbes runs a Web site to which other co-founders April Coggins and City Council candidate Joshua Coke are frequent contributers. What I found on the site was occasional cogent analysis mixed with vicious, potentially libelous attack.

Forbes and company label their opponents with words like "Stalinists," "Brown Shirts," "liars," "hypocrites," "frauds," "jiadists." Public discussion and debate are essential for a democracy, but when people stoop to name calling and slander it ceases to be useful.

Forbes has accused both the Daily News reporters and the Evergreen of bias, and claims one Washington State University administrator has sought to unduly influence the student paper; he accused one City Council candidate of planning voter fraud; he attacked a 31-year resident of this town as a liar who should be run out of town, and on and on.

I don't agree with all of PARD's positions (BREO's main target), but I am convinced they are correct that a Wal-Mart would be bad for our local economy.

Both my parents' small businesses went bankrupt due to the arrival of megastores like Wal-Mart (both were profitable prior to the arrival of Wal-Mart).

The irresponsible, extremist ranting on Forbes' site gives Republicans a bad name, and makes it impossible to take BREO seriously. Leave pro-business lobbying to the Chamber of Commerce.

In the meantime, I hope that the candidates, Josh Coke, Bill Paul and Ann Heath, who are endorsed on his Web site will publicly repudiate this outrageous rhetoric and these smear tactics that have no place in public discourse.

I guess I need to amplify a few things Ray had to say. First of all, he is being a bit disingenuous. Ray didn't just "find" Palousitics after BREO was announced. He has been a regular visitor for months. See, I'm not sure if Ray realizes this or not, but his WSU IP address resolves to his last name. I have been aware that Ray has been visiting here for a long time now.

As far as his PARD affiliation goes, his personal WSU page states: "Recently Ray has started fighting the expansion of a mega-retailer into Pullman." Hmmmmm. "Fighting" seems to be a lot different than just "being convinced PARD is correct." In addition, Ray "The Republican" is a Graduate Student Supervisor and working on his Master's degree in the Department of Psychology. Ironically enough Jason Rogers, the PARD webmaster and Vice-Chair of the Whitman County Democrats, is also a Psychology graduate student and Teaching Assistant. And if he isn't a member of PARD, how does Ray know Cynthia "Impartial Private Citizen" Hosick is a 31-year resident of Pullman. He was also careful not to give out too much information, like T.V. Reed's or Judy Krueger's name, the name or URL for my "Web site" or any of the "cogent analysis" he claims to have read here. Yes, I think Ray gave a little too much away about his PARD affiliation.

According to his page, Ray was born in New York City. To date, there are no Wal-Mart stores in New York City. Ray is also listed as being a 1995 graduate of Mead High School in Spokane. Stores in Spokane have been closed by Wal-Mart? Gosh, how would you know with so many retailers to choose from (Wal-Mart, Target, ShopKo, Best Buy, NorthTown Mall, etc.)? How could you know for sure which one did the damage?

This blog was created "for my own amusement." It does not reflect the opinions of BREO or any other organization or person, except for those who post here themselves. But my sources tell me pro-business Republicans, BREO members, and the Chamber of Commerce agree with me a lot more often than they do with Ray and his PARDners.

Leftists on the Palouse have had their own little message board for quite a while where attacks and acrimony flare on regular basis. It's called Vision 2020.

Speaking of attacks, I suppose it is acceptable public discourse that Greg "Captain" Hooks, the PARD Living Wage Campaign Coordinator, in a letter to the editor today said that Mayor Johnson, Ann Heath, and Bill Paul are all "naive, greedy, and biased?"

And speaking of libelous, most of the things Ray claims I have written in fact have been written by other commenters on this blog. I never wrote that Cynthia Hosick should be "run out of town." I have just demanded a full and fair accounting of what happened with the "Nineteen Pullman Merchants" petition.

By the way Ray, it's "BREE-oh." And slander is spoken, not written.

I'm getting the distinct impression there was a big letter writing party at PARD World Headquarters. Notice similar themes? Notice how the higher-ups like Reed, Hooks, Damm, and Hosick carefully avoid direct attacks on me? Well, PARDners, sorry, it ain't gonna work. I will not be intimidated. Expect more of the same from me, not less.

PARDon Me?

The desperation at PARD Headquarters continues. I’m glad we are getting under their skin so much. Their public pronouncements are getting shriller, more laughable, and more wildly inaccurate all the time.

Take for example Peggy Flaherty’s letter to the editor in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News today that only 94 people signed a full-page ad in favor of Wal-Mart that appeared back on August 23 in the Daily News versus the almost 10,000 that have pledged never to shop or work at Wal-Mart on PARD’s petition. Therefore, we should all vote for PARD’s puppet candidates Judy Krueger and Gary Johnson.

Let’s get a few things straight.

Conveniently Ignored Fact #1: PARD’s “mighty” petition, by their own admission, contains thousands and thousands of signatures from outside of Pullman. How is that relevant? First, PARD claimed it was a “consumer survey”, now it is being used as a reason to vote for Judy Krueger and Gary Johnson? Give me a break.

Conveniently Ignored Fact #2: PARD’s petition, by its nature, is scientifically invalid, has never been submitted for independent verification, has been contaminated by people outside Pullman and so therefore proves absolutely nothing.

Conveniently Ignored Fact #3: In the joint Pullman-Moscow area with some 30,000 mostly liberal-leaning college students and thousands more liberal faculty members, it’s not a triumph to get 10,000 signatures in a YEAR on an anti-Wal-Mart petition, but an embarrassment.

Conveniently Ignored Fact #4: Those 94 people, for the most part, are the very downtown business owners that PARD says are threatened by Wal-Mart. PARD could only muster 19 businesses on their bogus "19 Pullman Merchants" petition, and many of those have since disavowed their signature.

Conveniently Ignored Fact #5: The pro-Wal-Mart ad was never designed as a “petition.” Only a very small number of select supporters were contacted over a period of a few weeks. The goal was to show that key community leaders, such as the Pullman Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, were in favor of the project. If we had been “petitioning” just at the Moscow Wal-Mart alone since last October, as PARD has been doing elsewhere, we would have considerably more signatures. If we had thrown the net open to anyone and everyone as PARD has done, I am confident we would have even thousands more.

Conveniently Ignored Fact #6: In a mail survey that Wal-Mart conducted earlier this year, they received over 4,000 positive responses from full-time Pullman residents. Those positive responses far outweighed negative responses. The positive responses were even stronger from local businesses.

Conveniently Ignored Fact #7: That ad in the Daily News was paid for at great expense out of the pockets of those same citizens. How easy is it to add your name to a petition? I’ll take the opinion of 94 HIGHLY MOTIVATED Pullman citizens over a vast number of anonymous outsiders who may not even have been aware of what they were signing.. An additional 55 citizens sent in pro-Wal-Mart comments that did not sign the ad, bringing the total to nearly 150 full-time residents of Pullman that publicly supported Wal-Mart, TWICE as many as PARD. Remember, 10,000 petition signatures or not, only 75 anti-Wal-Mart SEPA comments were sent in. See the disconnect there? Another embarrassment for PARD. If 10,000 people don’t shop or work there, then Wal-Mart is sure to fail. PARD has done its job, so stop the appeals and let nature take its course. Could it be they don’t trust all those petition signers to keep their word? Why doesn't PARD put its money where its mouth is and run a full-page ad with all those petiton signatures? Let's see it.

Conveniently Ignored Fact #8: FOR THE LAST TIME, WE’RE NOT VOTING ON WAL-MART!!!!! WE DON’T VOTE ON ANY NEW DEVELOPMENT IN WASHINGTON, only with our wallets!!! Why can’t they get that through their heads?? It’s a not a case of majority rule, and in any case, what majority? No scientific survey has ever been conducted about Wal-Mart in Pullman. By opening up the petition to the whole Pullman-Moscow area and people from as far as away as Seattle and Spokane, you have to consequently raise the total number of residents the PARD petition is compared with. 10,000 out of nearly 50,000 people in Pullman-Moscow is hardly a majority. It’s not a majority of 30,000 WSU and U of I students. And it’s not even a majority of full-time Pullman residents after you remove students and outsiders from the petition. It’s a just a big number that sounds good, means nothing, and is used in all sorts of inappropriate ways. Even T.V. “Rerun” Reed himself admitted in an op-ed over the summer that PARD didn’t know if the majority of people in Pullman were against Wal-Mart of not. Of course PARD got thousands of petition signatures in Moscow. Moscow doesn’t want us to grow. It’ll cost their businesses. Do we base our election choices on what Moscow wants? According to PARD, we do I guess.

Eight Days of Truth - Day Four

Today we travel from the Southwest to the Midwest. Neenah, WI is a small lakeside community of 24,557. A Wal-Mart Supercenter opened there in 2004. The Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development’s mantra (and bumper sticker) about Wal-Mart has been “We Can Find a Better neighbor.” This article from the Appleton – Fox Cites Post Crescent relates how good of a neighbor a Wal-Mart Supercenter has become in Neenah:

Wal-Mart fitting in

Neenah makes room for the king of retail stores

NEENAH — One year ago, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest company, roared into Neenah like a lion.

Wal-Mart’s 200,000-square-foot Supercenter on Winneconne Avenue dwarfed competitors in size and might. And it spread fear that it would swallow mom-and-pop retailers whole with its discount prices.

Today, Wal-Mart is thriving, but none of its competitors has scattered. If anything, they are rethinking their approach to business to the benefit of consumers.

Jim Webb Jr., president of Krueger’s True Value, 999 Winneconne Ave., said Wal-Mart’s greatest effect was providing an impetus for Krueger’s to re-examine pricing, services and marketing.

“We have to pay attention to what we are doing,” he said. “There are more options for people to go shopping.”

Sales at Krueger’s fell slightly below projections during 2004, but Webb said it was far more related to weather than to Wal-Mart.

May is Krueger’s strongest month for sales because the lawn and gardening season is at its peak. Last year, however, it rained for 18 days in May.

“We are not talking drizzle,” Webb said. “We are talking sheets of rain. The weather wiped out a sizeable amount of sales for our store.”

The rest of the summer was no better. The heat and humidity never came, so sales of fans and air conditioners were sluggish. The rains stopped after May and June, holding back mosquitoes that lead to sales of insect repellant.

Webb said that with normal weather, Wal-Mart’s effect on his sales would have been negligible.

“I think we would have been just fine,” he said. “We are hiking our trousers up and are going to have at it this year.”

Karen Harkness, executive director of Future Neenah Inc., said Wal-Mart has produced no noticeable effect on home-grown retailers.

She credited businessmen like Webb for their take-charge approach to Wal-Mart.

“They set the tone by saying, ‘We need to step up,’” Harkness said. “As long as they are providing customer service and the products consumers are asking for, they aren’t viewing Wal-Mart as a threat.”

Wal-Mart has lived up to its own expectations. Although the Supercenter — a combined supermarket and discount store — declined to release sales figures, store manager Gary Gabor said business has been brisk.

“We had a very successful first year,” Gabor said. “We take care of a lot customers every day. Our main focus is to continue to serve them well.”

Wal-Mart has become an integral part of the Neenah community. The store employs 320 people, nearly 75 percent of whom work full time, and it draws customers from all reaches of the area.

Michelle Moulton of the Town of Menasha said she shops at the Neenah Wal-Mart at least once a week, primarily for items for her 2-year-old son. Before the store opened, she shopped at the Grand Chute Wal-Mart.

“It’s convenient,” Moulton said. “I find it to be a clean store with helpful people and a good selection.”

Neenah planners had predicted that Wal-Mart would slow the leakage of retail dollars from Neenah. They also correctly predicted that a multitude of businesses would ride into Neenah on Wal-Mart’s coattails.

A four-tenant retail center was built in front of Wal-Mart, and across the street, the Westowne Village commercial development is under construction.

Westowne will feature a $6 million Aurora Health Care Center, a multitenant retail center, a credit union and at least four restaurants — Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Culver’s Frozen Custard, Arby’s Restaurant and Taco Bell.

More developments are in the works.

“We are seeing businesses coming (to Neenah) because of Wal-Mart and Kohl’s,” Director of Community Development Bob Buckingham said.

Neenah invested $1.7 million in land, utilities and streets to prepare the area for development. Officials plan to recover the money through property taxes on new development in the area.

Gabor said Wal-Mart’s presence in Neenah transcends retail business. He said the Neenah store and its employees donated $33,000 toward nonprofit causes last year.

Wal-Mart helped raise money for the Neenah Riverwalk. It also purchased a defibrillator for the Clayton-Winchester Fire Department, donated candy for a Halloween event, filled food pantries and distributed groceries to the needy at Christmas.

“We have been involved in the community,” Gabor said. “That is good for us, and it’s good for the Neenah area.”

It's in The Daily News

Some stream of consciousness thoughts on articles in yesterday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Savings on horizon for residents in Pullman

Woohoo. I am going to save $22.50 on my property taxes in 2006. Now I can afford a trip down to Clarkston and back to go to Coscto.

Total general fund revenues are expected to increase by 8% in 2006. Wal-Mart would easily double that.

Why is that good? Cash reserves are 13% below the budget. We are still $57,000 in the hole after taking out $700,000 from the cash reserves to balance the budget.

Conflicting visions for downtown Pullman

Is Judy "Nightmare on Main Street" Krueger running for Moscow City Council? It's hard to tell as much as she mentioned Moscow. How do shops, cafes, a food co-op, and a farmer's market solve our retail woes. Has it worked for Moscow? I hear them complaining about their tax revenue too. Why else would they have a franchise fee on the ballot?

I want us to emulate Moscow as well - BY HAVING A WAL-MART AND MORE RETAIL!!!

I told you the trolley bell would be clanging again.

"Long distance information, give me Memphis, Tennessee"

Krueger: "I'm not suggesting the city pay for a trolley. It would have to be done through grants or outside funding." I see. A TROLLEY FAIRY!! What an absurd suggestion. Anyone knows that, in addition to being costly to construct, public transportation systems are costly to maintain.

Bill Paul: "But we have to find the person who's willing to take the risk. Those people are hard to find." Amen Bill. Why don't PARD and Judy Krueger get that?

Is it me or does it seem that there are three people running against Krueger? I'll be glad when Krueger goes back to investigating human rights full time, not investigating new ways for the city to go bankrupt.

Votes tabulated: WSU skilled trade workers to leave union

Congrats on getting out of that racket guys. The service supervisory staff ought to try again soon.

Death Spasm

It is said that a wounded animal lashes out the most when it is about to die. For example, consider Timmy Reed’s snit fit in today’s Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Some folks in town think a Pullman Wal-Mart is a “done deal.” But, for reasons I outline below, it seems more and more likely that in fact a super center here is a “dead deal.”

The only thing I am ever going to agree with T.V. “Rerun” Reed on is that Wal-Mart is not a done deal. Never stop fighting until the fight is over.

To begin with, the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development’s legal appeal points out so many problems – traffic dangers, cemetery desecration, massive storm water and erosion issues, the Public Works Department’s failure to do the fiscal impact study required by city code and more – that we are very likely to win our appeal. In addition, there are perfectly legal city ordinances that can be used retroactively to make the corporation either limit its social and economic damage, or stay out of town.

DANGERS! DESECRATION! MASSIVE! What a load of hyperbolic fear-mongering. And by all means let’s retroactively deprive the world’s largest corporation of its legal rights and see what happens.

But the real kicker is that some members of the City Council, city staff and key business leaders have had their desire for the Wal-Mart deal shaken by revelations that the corporation has plans for a super center in Moscow. The major rationale of reversing the flow of business has been lost and, along with it, trust in Wal-Mart, for keeping those plans a secret. At the same time, news arrives that a store that makes much more sense for Pullman, Target, has plans to build here. A Target, if of modest size and located away from Bishop Boulevard, will cause far less disruption and will actually accomplish the stated goal of super-center backers to bring people in from Moscow and even Lewiston.

Moscow Smoshcow. That’s been the worst kept secret on the Palouse. Heck, PARD even had it up on a poster back in August at the Lentil festival. Why make a big deal about it now? Who exactly has had their “desire shaken?” Ed Schweitzer? Bill Paul? Ann Heath? Keith Bloom? Fritz Hughes? I don’t think so. The argument has never been that people would come from Moscow to shop here. HELLO?! THERE”S ALREADY A WAL-MART THERE. The argument has always been to keep PULLMAN SHOPPERS IN PULLMAN. Timmy argues against himself. If a Supercenter goes into Moscow without one going into Pullman, all the businesses in Pullman may as well board up their doors now.

Ah, he dropped the “T” word. Gee, is PARD in negotiations with Target? I have heard from much more knowledgeable sources that Target is only interested if Wal-Mart goes in. If they weren’t, why haven’t they come in before now? PARD’s guru Al Norman has referred to Target as an upscale Wal-Mart. You think Target wants to come in to Pullman with T.V. Reed already laying the groundwork for size and location? What a joke. If not Bishop Boulevard, then where? And how does Target not “destroy local business” the way PARD says Wal-Mart will? And again OUR GOAL HAS BEEN TO KEEP PULLMAN SHOPPERS IN PULLMAN, NOT DRAW IN SHOPPERS FROM LEWISTON AND MOSCOW. How obtuse can you get? This is just another PARD red herring trying to divert the debate. Unless PARD can deliver Target on a silver platter, SHUT UP!

As the tide shifts, supporters of a Pullman Wal-Mart are escalating their attacks on the local folks in PARD. Challenging PARD’s views, which we welcome, has given way to personal attacks, and libelous charges of fraud and duplicity designed to intimidate those who oppose Wal-Mart. Most PARD members have been in this community for 25 to 40 years. We won’t be intimidated. PARD is here to stay.

Oh, the tide is shifting alright, leaving PARD’s little dinghy high and dry. That is why we got treated to this rambling, propagandistic little pep talk trying to rally the tie-dyed liberal forces one last time. The cocky rhetoric of days gone by, when PARD talked of “winning the battle for public opinion,” are long gone. Now PARD is being “intimidated.” Give me a break. PARD has been launching personal attacks on Glenn Johnson, Mark Workman, the city council, myself, and anyone else with the temerity to oppose them. They are the real intimidators

As far as “charges of fraud and duplicity” go, if the shoe fits…. Cynthia "Impartial Private Citizen" Hosick misrepresented herself and what she was attempting to do with that “19 Pullman Merchants” petition. And PARD really has been solicting donations on national anti-Wal-Mart sites. Those are verifiable facts.

What PARD members have been here for 25 to 40 years? That’s laughable. Judy Krueger perhaps? How about Tina Vona-Pergola? Jose Alamillo? Nella Van Dyke?

I hope PARD is here to stay. We need the comic relief. But given the enemies they are making, they are going to be a one-hit wonder.

Eight Days of Truth - Day Three

Today we are off to the Southwest and Rio Rancho, NM, population 61,953, where the "Wal-Mart Effect" is in full swing even before a Supercenter has been built. A Wal-Mart Supercenter is currently under construction in Rio Rancho and is expected to open in Spring 2006. PARD has frequently questioned how Wal-Mart will draw in customers to other stores in Pullman when it offers "one-stop shopping." This article from the the Albuquerque Journal, April 26, 2005 explains:

Wal-Mart Attracts Retailers to Area

By Rory McClannahan
Journal Staff Writer

Construction of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter at Southern and Unser boulevards in Rio Rancho is attracting more retailers to the area.

The owners of the existing Southern Plaza are expecting more tenants, and plans for another commercial development on the southwest corner of the intersection are well under way.

"It's great. Wal-Mart will bring a lot of traffic to the area, which can do nothing but help our tenants," said Linda Davis of CB Richard Ellis, the leasing agent for the Southern Plaza Shopping Center on the northeast corner of the intersection.

Davis said interest in the 130,000-square-foot shopping center has picked up since Wal-Mart announced plans last year to build a store on the northwest corner of the intersection. Construction began about two weeks ago.

Michael Butler with Maestas and Ward said Monday that the development on the southwest corner of the intersection will include at least one 90,000-square-foot store and several pad sites to be completed about the same time as Wal-Mart early next year.

"Wal-Mart will drive retail consumers to that site," he said. "It's going to be a major trade area in Rio Rancho."

Butler said plans for the new center are "extremely preliminary" and could not announce any tenants.

Although there are currently seven empty storefronts in the Southern Plaza, Davis said she is close to signing lease agreements on all but three, including one with a national chain store, which Davis could not name.

Southern Plaza was built in 1986 and Davis said through the years it has averaged about 80 percent occupancy. By the time Wal-Mart opens, she said, 93 percent of the center will be leased.

"A lot of retailers like to be near Wal-Mart," she said. "They know a
Supercenter will attract a lot of traffic."

The 214,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter is expected to open in spring 2006. The front of the store is intended to mimic more a main street than a big box. The design includes green awnings and cast iron-style fencing.

Wal-Mart will spend about $900,000 to redesign and construct a new intersection at Southern and Unser for the city of Rio Rancho.

It's in The Daily News

Today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News is chock full of good stuff. If you don't subscribe, I recommend going out and picking one up.

Today's Highlights:

The Daily News will run articles this week featuring candidates views on important issues in both Moscow and Pullman. Development in downtown Pullman will be covered tomorrow (I hear that trolley comin', comin round the bend...), Friday will be the Pullman budget, and Saturday's article will address growth in Pullman and Moscow. I hope Michelle Dupler does the Pullman stories. She has her finger on the pulse of the Pullman issues.

In major news, the zoning revisions to the Moscow-Pullman Corridor have been approved after 17 years. The parcel size has been reduced to 3 acres and open space requirements dropped to 25%. Development will be restricted to the north side of SR 270 to preserve the Chipman Trail and the gravel pits on the south side. The hope is that development will now ensue, particularly as SR 270 will be four-laned, with a center median, starting in the spring of 2006. Commissioner Jerry Finch said, "We know there's interest out there. Now it's time for the government to step back and let the entrepreneurs make it happen." From your lips to God's ears, Jerry.

There is just one remaining problem: water and sewer service for the corridor. There is land for sale just over the Idaho border, but where is the water and sewer service going to come from? Moscow? I doubt it. Earlier this year the Pullman City Council rejected a county proposal to share sales tax revenues from the corridor in return for extending water and sewer services. The issue was the cost: $14 million. Obviously, the city doesn't have that kind of money. The corridor seems to be the natural path of growth for Pullman once Bishop Boulevard fills up. I have always thought a natural plan would be for the city to first extend water and sewer services to the airport, then after Wal-Mart and the subsequent retail it brings replenish the city's coffers, use the airport as a jumping off point for further utility service to the Moscow-Pullman Corridor and reap the sales tax benefits there as well. I see annexation of part of the corridor by Pullman in the future, but Whitman County will likely fight that tooth-and-nail.

Another good letter to the editor for Ann Heath. She seems to be winning the "war of the letters." I have yet to see many letters for Judy Krueger outside of PARD, and none at all outside of PARD for Gary Johnson. It's actually getting embarassing for Johnson. You can almost see the strings.

Lastly, the crown jewel of today's paper is Chuck Millham's brilliant "Their View" op-ed. Chuck has given much insight into the Wal-Mart issue in recent months. Today, he exposed PARD's national union and Democratic anti-Wal-Mart connections and how they are muddying both our city council election and the Wal-Mart development process. I strongly urge everyone to read it and share it with their family and friends before voting next Tuesday. We don't need outside influences intruding into our elections.

Update - Whitman County Agricultural Zoning Ordinance

There will be a regularly scheduled meeting of the Whitman County Planning Commission Wednesday, November 2, at 7:00 PM in the Public Service Building Auditorium, 310 N. Main, Colfax. The commission is expected vote on the draft Whitman County Agricultural Zoning Ordinance.

According to last Thursday's Whitman County Gazette, the proposed 750-foot limit for homes at an average slope greater than 2 percent from the centerline of any improved county road and 1,600 feet for lesser grades was dropped by the Whitman County Planning Commission. The other restrictions remain in place. The Planning Commission continues to assert that these other restrictions will not not be onerous and most residents will not have a problem meeting them.

The vote is non-binding and it it is up to the Whitman County Commissioners to adopt an ordinance. To this end, a petition to the commissioners has been circulating in the county asking them to drop the proposed revisions. A link to the online petition can be found to the right. As I write this, the online petition has 50 signatures, many of them from readers of this blog. Way to go guys! The Whitman County Gazette reported that 45 signatures had been obtained at Tick Klock Drug in Colfax. Other petitions are circulating throughout the county.

Mysteriously, Whitman County Commissioner Greg Partch told Brenda Dillard, one of the petition coordinators, that signatures from people "most affected" would carry more weight. That's funny, because EVERYONE in the county is affected by the proposed ordinance, as it directly affects the cost of housing EVERYWHERE in Whitman County, including Pullman.

I-901 Pros & Cons

Well I want to say right up front that I am NOT a smoker, I hate the smell of smoke from cigarettes but I don’t mind a small amount of smoke from a cigar. So with that said I find this initiative very offensive. You say "WHAT you should be for this". I think that when you start getting government involved with telling people what they can do, or have done in their own businesses is not good for a free people. If someone doesn’t like smoke they should not go to that place of business. For example I love to play pool and could go to some bars to play pool but due to the smoke they have in those places I don’t go; plain and simple as that. So it is back to the fact that we need LESS government not more so I say NO on I-901.

Eight Days of Truth - Day Two

Yesterday, we visited Boone, NC, a small, rural college town. Today we return to the Northwest to visit another small, rural college town, Ellensburg, WA, population 15,414. Ellensburg, some 200 miles to the west of Pullman, is the home of Central Washington University. It is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Boone, an example of what happens when big boxes are kept out of town.

Jack Schultz is the CEO of Agracel, Inc. , an Industrial Development firm specializing in the agurban® market. Since its inception in 1986, Agracel's focus and passion has been to facilitate new jobs in the hi-tech and manufacturing sectors specifically in small town America. The publisher of Forbes Magazine, Rich Karlgaard, said, "The question for small town America is acute. What causes some communities to boom even as others slowly die? Jack Schultz knows the answer."

Jack runs a blog called BoomtownUSA. He visited Ellensburg back in August of this year, and this is what he reported:

Ban Big Boxes?

“We’ve only got one big box retailer here in the county, a Fred Meyer store, that is just on the periphery of the downtown area,” Debbie Strand head of ED for the county told me on our tour of the community. “The city and county have zoning which doesn’t allow other ones to be built.” I decided to address the issue with the 20 or so local people who assembled for a lunch in my honor in Ellensburg.

There obviously was a great deal of questioning of the decision to ban big boxes among the people that I talked with. Some wanted to continue the ban to protect their historic downtown. A few had objections to big boxes in general, particularly to Wal-Mart. Others were concerned about the retail leakage out of the county, estimated at $80 million to as high as $200 million+ and the possible long term impact upon the county.

I expressed my opinion, prefacing it with the comment that this should be a local decision, not one that a consultant or someone from the outside should make. I told of other attempts to ban big boxes, which have universally back-fired on the communities and states because big box retailers are much more nimble than governmental decision makers. I talked of the savings that the big boxes offer because of their much more efficient distribution model, amounting to over $600/year for a family of four in studies that I’ve read. I asked: Why you would want to burden the local citizens with that added cost as a penalty of living locally?

I related my own experience of strolling around Ellensburg’s downtown early in the morning and not finding a place to get a cup of coffee or a newspaper. I was disappointed to see over a dozen vacant buildings in the downtown. Obviously banning big boxes hadn’t led to a boom in the downtown area. I also was shocked to find their only big box store closed early in the morning. Without competition, they obviously didn’t see the need to be open at odd hours.

Ellensburg has a wonderful potential with their downtown area. It is historic, with wonderful brick and stone buildings. It should be a magnet for the community. It should be an entertainment center with people living in the lofts above the retail shops. But, it won’t become such a place by trying to stifle competition, keeping the big boxes out of the county. It will do so by finding its own niche, building it and developing its own special sense of place.