Heard Around Town

I heard an ad yesterday about remembering 9/11 and supporting the President on NewsTalk 1150 (I assume the ad is airing on sister station Border 104 as well.) Without getting into the war (there are thousands of other blogs to debate that, this one is sticking to local issues), I salute the owners of J & H Printing in Pullman for taking a public stand on a very controversial issue.

Spin Cycle

Today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News has a front page story about last night's Pullman City Council meeting. During the meeting, Councilwoman Ann Heath questioned city Planning Director Mark Workman about Wal-Mart's traffic plan in the SEPA checklist. She and some of her constituents are apparently concerned about the projected traffic on Bishop Boulevard, in particular at the intersection of Bishop and Klemgard Avenue, as it is already pretty bad. The issue was raised as to whether a stop light might be warranted like the one planned for Bishop and Harvest Drive or the one Wal-Mart has pledged to help pay for at the intersection of Bishop and Fairmount Road. Mr. Workman responded that the level of traffic estimated for that intersection does not warrant a stop light, but at some point down the road the city could install one using some state grant money if necessary.

I have not seen Workman's study, but I can guess the rationale. Logically, most shoppers going to Wal-Mart will do so from South Grand Avenue. Therefore, it can be safely assumed that traffic will be heavier on the west side of Bishop (the Harvest and Fairmount intersections), versus the east side where Klemgard is located. Klemgard is also a dead end street. The biggest issue there is neighborhood traffic turning left onto Bishop. Ultimately, there are laws that control how close together stop lights can placed.

Contrary to the way it was reported, Ann Heath was just being a good representative for her constituency, versus bashing Wal-Mart. I have it from reliable sources that she is pro-growth and pro-economic development all the way. Why else would PARD member Judy Krueger be running for her seat?, in what promises to be a spirited election battle?

I'm sure the only reason that this council meeting even made the news at all was the fact that "Wal-Mart" was mentioned. The council meets weekly. How many of those meetings make the front page? The anti-Wal-Mart Daily News is almost certainly trying to spin this traffic concern angle, especially as Klemgard is the street where both Frankin Elementary and Bishop Place retirement center are located. The Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development has used both the fact that the city council does not vote on the project AND the increased traffic around schools and retirement homes as objections to Wal-Mart. Thus far, no council member has publicly agreed with PARD's assertions. PARD would love nothing more than to see a crack in the council over Wal-Mart, even a perceived one. How long must Pullman residents tolerate this biased reporting from the Daily News?

Getting Involved

If you are tired of the constant negativity from the anti-Wal-Mart and anti-growth crowd in Pullman and would like to make your voice heard, please drop me a line here. I can give you some ideas on how to help KEEP (thanks Ray!) Pullman a business-friendly community.

Letterman's Better (Part 1)

At the National Lentil Festival held in Pullman a couple of weekends ago, the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development had a poster displayed at their booth listing "The Top 10 Reasons a Wal-Mart Supercenter Would Be Bad for Pullman." The list is almost as funny as the ones David Letterman routinely does on his show. I have attached a picture of the poster below.

Now for the list, and my fisking thereof:

1. Traffic will slow emergency access to the Pullman Regional Hospital

Bishop Boulevard was purposefully designed over 30 years ago for retail growth, specifically for "big-box" type stores and commercial development. The city of Pullman designed the road in cooperation with the developer who owned the property. So, the question is not so much why Wal-Mart is choosing to locate there but why the hospital was built there. I assume the city and the hospital board had their reasons (availability of land, close to the retirement center, etc.). So, therefore, I trust Mark Workman, the city planning director, when he said that, with mitigating measures that Wal-Mart has agreed to, traffic on Bishop will not be affected significantly.

My trust is also based on facts. According to the Palouse Economic Development Council's 2004 Regional Transportation Plan, the average daily traffic volume on Bishop Blvd. from the Village Centre theaters to South Grand Ave. is currently 8,600 vehicles per day. Wal-Mart is predicting that their store will add 11,700 trips, which will increase the volume on Bishop by the hospital to around 20,000 per day.

The traffic volume at the hospital's old location off Stadium Way is 16,800 cars per day. That's only 3,500 less than what is projected on Bishop with Wal-Mart. Funny, I never remember emergency access being an issue for the old hospital, which was right by the main entrance to a major university.

PARD would do well to compare the increased traffic on Bishop Blvd. to U.S. 12/Bridge Street in Clarkston, the site of big-box Costco. The level there is 19,000 cars per day. But of course, that can be forgiven, as Costco supported Don Barbieri's campaign.

Remember, what PARD chooses to call “traffic”, our local businesses call “customers.” Did you see the story in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News yesterday about the proposed Moscow-Pullman ring road? Think local merchants will be glad to have reduced traffic on city streets as travelers bypass the two towns? According to this paper commissioned by the WSU Department of Agricultural Economics, you need only ask the residents of Colfax and Rosalia to get the answer to that question.

2. Significant noise, air and light pollution will have negative effects on Bishop Place elders, asthmatics and children in the area

The landscape of Pullman is dominated by the presence of Washington State University on College Hill. The WSU campus has dozens of buildings and hundreds of street lights which are lit all night long and visible from most everywhere in town. In addition, thousands of cars park in the scores of campus parking lots and garages every day. WSU Parking Services added 558 parking spaces in FY2004 and 2005 projects alone. So, suddenly we add one more large building and parking lot and the delicate environmental balance is ruined for our elders, asthmatics and children? Balderdash.

Wal-Mart will use light-reducing fixtures on street lights in their parking lot to minimize glare. These are the same kind of street lights the city uses. Nothing else really needs to be said about this frivolous and ridiculous assertion.

3. Lower property values of homes nearby on Pioneer and Sunnyside Hill

Huh? What an outrageously unsupported allegation. Where did they get this data from? Can anyone imagine what could lower property values in the red-hot Pullman real estate market right now? Maybe the presence of evil pod-people from outer space, but I can't think of much else. If anything, homes in those areas will go up in value as more retail moves into the Bishop Blvd. corridor because of Wal-Mart. Remember, in real estate, it's all about location, location, location.

4. Traffic will lead shoppers to shortcut via Spring, Crestview, and other streets near Franklin Elementary and Lincoln Middle School children

Ah, the greatest scare tactic of them all, "My God, what about the children!" Too bad for PARD this is a completely bogus argument. Have they actually BEEN to those streets and schools? Franklin Elementary is at the end of a cul-de-sac, for Pete's sake. And the only cars that will be going past Lincoln are the residents that live on Pioneer Hill. For anyone else to use Spring and Crestview as a "shortcut" to Wal-Mart is too preposterous to even contemplate. If some of these PARDners had lived here for more than a year or two, they might realize that.

5. The 1,039 space parking lot, open all night, will become a crime magnet and a student party zone, driving up local policing costs

My side hurt from laughing after reading this one. That's right, guys and girls. Forget about Greek Row or Campus Commons North. The new party place in Pullman will be the Wal-Mart parking lot. Wooohooooo!!

Is this argument even for real? Are they serious?

Wal-Mart allows RVs to stay in their parking lots overnight for free. The practice is called "boondocking." Considering how many RVs we get in town, and our limited motel room capacity, for football games, Dad's Weekend, Mom's Weekend, graduation, etc., it will be a very welcome addition to many Coug Moms and Dads. Does anyone imagine these parents and relatives becoming a "crime problem?" This just demonstrates the elitist and snobbish attitude PARD members have towards Wal-Mart shoppers in general and RVers in particular.

My challenge to PARD members: Show me even ONE study by the Pullman Police Department that projects a Wal-Mart will drive up policing costs. Just the opposite will be true. Sales tax revenue generated by Wal-Mart will allow the city to fully fund our police department as the city's population grows.

(Continued tomorrow)

Best Week Ever

Some of you are familiar, no doubt, with the show "Best Week Ever" on VH-1. It satirizes the popular penchant for instant nostalgia by having various D-list celebrities comment on news and pop culture events of the past week. I don't think the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development will look back on this past week as their "best ever."

For them, the heady days of May, with its press conferences and triumphal declarations of victory were as green as the wheat waving in the surrounding fields. Now, in late August, those green fields have been replaced by brown stubble. The city has approved Wal-Mart's SEPA checklist and it seems increasingly likely PARD's jihad is doomed. Instead of "PARD Wins the PR Battle," the headlines now read "Grassroots Movement in Favor of a New Wal-Mart in Pullman is Growing." And no more success stories either on Sprawl-busters.com.

That's what happens when you arrogantly ignore the businesses you claim that you are protecting. Perhaps PARD members should read Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" instead of "Slam Dunking Wal-Mart." For example, this quote in yesterday's Daily Evergeen from Montine Vona-Pergola, the PARD Co-Media Coordinator about the businesses who appeared in the full-page ad in support of Wal-Mart:

“I wasn’t surprised that there were so many people coming out in favor of it, but I did notice that a lot of businesses in the ad weren’t going to be in competition with Wal-Mart...”

What? Not surprised that there so many people in favor of it? This is the same person who wrote a letter to the editor a few months back that claimed PARD's petition proved "by every academic standard" that 3/4 of Pullman was opposed to Wal-Mart. Businesses in the ad that weren't going to be in competition with Wal-Mart? There was a pro-Wal-Mart quote from Jerry Griebling, owner of Jerry's Auto Repair and a signatory of the ad, in that same article. In the PARD position paper issued back in May, Jerry's Auto Repair is listed as being at high risk from Wal-Mart. That paper also lists "slow food" restaurants as being at moderate to high risk. The full-page ad was signed by some of those restaurant owners as well. Almost every other business listed will compete with Wal-Mart in some way. As one local business owner put it: "Competition is what makes the world go around." PARD says they don't want Wal-Mart to have a "monopoly" and yet they support a monopoly on groceries by Dissmores IGA and Safeway, both big national chain stores in their own right? By every academic standard, Vona-Pergola's statement is ludicrous.

PARD has had plenty of warning that they were going against the majority of residents and businesses in Pullman, both in "petitioning" efforts aimed at local merchants (more on that in a future post) and at Chamber of Commerce meetings. I found this snippet from today's Daily Evergreen to be particularly amusing:

Vona-Pergola said a lot of people who are not a part of PARD sent documentation in during the comment period, though she has not heard of anyone who plans to appeal other than PARD.

“During the public comment period, Pullman residents turned in 585 pages of comments and documentation,” Vona-Pergola said. “Many of those from experts in a variety of fields. Because Mr. Workman has opted not to heed these warnings of concern, the citizens of Pullman will be forced to take the issue to the courts.”

"She has not heard of anyone who plans to appeal other than PARD." Well, DUH!! But then she goes on to say that "the citizens of Pullman will be forced to take the issue to the courts." Please. They need to look around and see they are the only ones who are still beating the dead horse. Don't drag us into it. People in Pullman are ready to move on and grow weary of T.V. Reed's increasingly shrill threats.

End Game

Mark Workman, Public Works Director, announced this morning that the city of Pullman has issued a final Determination of Nonsignificance concerning the application under the State Environmental Policy Act to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter. This means that Wal-Mart may begin construction after the site plan is approved, pending any appeals. Appeals must be filed by September 8.

The Daily Evergreen interview with T.V. Reed, PARD director, for today's issue states:

...there were 585 pages of public comments and documentation submitted after the preliminary determination of non-significance, and they [PARD] are prepared with five substantial areas of appeal if they feel the need to dispute the final decision.

“The appeal will only happen if we don’t think the city has responded adequately to the raised concerns,”

I hope they don't appeal. The city has taken over two months to reach this decision, after taking over a month before that to reach a preliminary decision. Obviously, careful thought has been given to all comments.

But, PARD won't see it that way. You can't meet every Thursday night for 8 months, collect petition signatures, put tape over your mouth, hold press conferences, and have a booth at the Lentil Festival and walk away empty-handed.

So, prepare yourself for more delays and more theatrics Pullman. I know everyone is weary of all this and wants to move on. As Winston Churchill said: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

I only hope the appeal hearing is fast and decisive. Stay tuned.

Not In Our Name

In a press release issued back on May 23, the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development stated:

Round One: The Battle for Public Opinion is Over. PARD Has Clearly Won that Battle.

Bull.

Today, a full-page ad was published in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News containing an open letter from Pullman businesses and residents in support of Wal-Mart and economic growth. 137 businesses and community leaders signed the letter, including the Pullman Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Combined with the pro-Wal-Mart SEPA DNS comments, that makes nearly 200 merchants and citizens that have publicly expressed their support.

The ad was paid for entirely with donations from businesses and residents in Pullman.

I am proud to say that I was one of the signers of the letter. People in Pullman are fed up. PARD has dominated the discusion about Wal-Mart for the last eight months. They have made their case, and it has been rejected by the people of Pullman. A petition with thousands of signatures from students and people outside of town proves absolutely nothing, other than PARD will do anything to try and stop Wal-Mart.

It is highly inappropriate that 99% of PARD members are affliated with WSU, the city's largest employer. This makes Wal-Mart supporters reluctant to come forward, as they fear some sort of backlash or a boycott. This is one of the most controversial issues in the history of Pullman. But if almost 200 supporters can come forward publicly, just imagine how many hundreds, if not thousands, of Pullman full-time residents support Wal-Mart privately.

So, PARDners, next time you blather on to the media about the "majority of people in Pullman," just remember: "Not in our name!"

Council Election Update

Things are beginning to heat up in the city council races.

Ward 1, Position 7

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported Saturday that Gary Johnson is running as a write-in candidate against incumbent Bill Paul and WSU student Joshua Coke. Johnson had originally filed in the wrong ward and was disqualified from the ballot. Not sure yet what his position on growth is, but if he's running against Bill Paul, whose pro-growth record is impeccable, it can't be a good thing. It'll be an uphill battle for Johnson in any case. Write-in campaigns are very difficult.

Ward 3, Position 3

Ann Heath, incumbent, had an entry in the Lentil Festival Grand Parade on Saturday. "Retain Ann Heath" signs were spotted on both Spring and Crestview today, as well as at a lunchtime mini-sign waving event in a Pioneer Hill front yard.

Judy Krueger was in the parade also, riding on the Neill-Wysup Chrysler-Dodge entry. She had a booth at the Friday night street fair as well. Picked up one of her flyers. She is an attorney with an extensive background in the federal bureaucracy (just what we need). No mention of her PARD membership or Wal-Mart. In case you don't remember, Judy Krueger was the person who wrote the letter from PARD to Mayor Johnson requesting a "public meeting" about Wal-Mart. PARD has mentioned that the denial of this meeting could be the basis for a future law suit against the city.

Perhaps she is distancing herself for the campaign, although this picture taken of the PARD booth at the Lentil Festival certainly tells the real story:


Krueger's flyer uses all the right buzzwords to indicate her opposition to Wal-Mart, such as "preservation of unique character of Pullman", "reasonable land development," "transparency in government," "zoning law reform," and "local business promotion." But she still leaves enough wiggle room to claim to be pro-growth with "increase in retail stores and restaurants," "downtown parking lots," and "more land for technology and light industries."

Don Heil had a booth at the Lentil Fest street fair Friday night and was profiled on the front page of the Daily News on Saturday. Mr. Heil has lived in Pullman for almost 50 years and has been very active in town beautification projects. He seems to be a fellow traveller with PARD ideologically, but I can't imagine they would run two candidates against each other in the same ward. His platform seems to be "Pullman should be just like it was in 1958." Maybe he needs Doc to send him back to the future in the Delorean.

Mr. Heil thinks Pullman's "charm and friendliness have been eroded over time" and he would "like to restore some of Pullman's grace." The students are maybe a little wilder now, but what else has changed with the town? I think most people would still consider Pullman to be very neighborly and livable. Why else would people be flocking here?

Heil believes the council should put "people before the tax base," whatever that means. Not a great attitude for a city council that will be facing negative cash reserves in less than three years. The council's first and foremost duty is to provide critical services to a growing population, such as police, fire, and streets, and there is no way to do that without tax revenue.

Heil seems to share many professors' neo-urbanist thinking and also hinted around about Wal-Mart, but never mentioned it by name ("we aren't going to be another Spokane"). Why can't these anti-Wal-Mart candidates just come right out and say they are against it, especially if they are so convinced the majority in the town feels the same way?

Lentil Chili and Liberal Claptrap

My family attended the National Lentil Festival this weekend. This annual tradition is one of the highlights of our year, along with the Fourth of July celebration at Sunnyside Park.

As I sat on the curb in front of Bank of America on a bright, beautiful Saturday morning watching the Cub Scouts, Ritzville Royalty and Tase T. Lentil march by in the Little Lentil Sprout Parade and Grand Parade, I thought: "This is just like a Norman Rockwell painting. We are so lucky to live in Pullman." I don't know how some can say that Pullman's "charm and friendliness have been eroded over time." I can't imagine anyone running for public office would espouse such a view, but more on that later.

Walking around the street fair Friday night, I was surprised to find the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development's booth mixed in amongst the kettle corn and the world's biggest bowl of lentil chili.

You remember PARD. This is the group that claims it hasn't had a fair chance to make its views heard. Well, they got yet another chance in front of several thousand people without any opposing viewpoints. The Pullman Chamber of Commerce must have held its nose and let them have a spot, because everyone in America has to be treated equally. There's a lesson to be learned there I think, but I'm sure PARD missed it.

There was all the usual PARD propaganda, including a scrapbook with every newspaper article on the Pullman Wal-Mart, a photo that negatively exaggerated what Wal-Mart will do to the local landscape (conspicuously absent was the exterior plan that Wal-Mart submitted, available at City Hall, which is very nice), pamphlets, and a poster on the wall that listed the "top 10 reasons to oppose the Pullman Wal-Mart Supercenter." That poster was so full of falsehoods and untruths that it merits its own post. I will only say that PARD continues to embrace the almost laughable strategy of saying Wal-Mart is evil and destructive, and yet defending the one in Moscow ("One Wal-Mart is Enough!"). One reason not have a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pullman, according to PARD, is that one is being planned for Moscow. Huh? Politics really does make strange bedfellows.

For a group playing the role of "David" to Wal-Mart's "Goliath,", PARD's slingshot looked awfully high-tech and powerful to me. They have their own logo, with their website listed, bumper stickers ("We can find a better neighbor"), buttons ("No Wal-Mart"), and enough PhDs to open a small college. Yeah, PARD is going to find us a "better" retailer, just like O.J. is still looking for the real killers.

PARD also had out the infamous petition that "proves by every academic standard" that 3/4 of the town opposes Wal-Mart, despite the fact that when I looked at the petition, every third or fourth signature was from Moscow, Spokane, Rosalia, Garfield, or somewhere else. I still need the reasoning behind that explained to me. And of course, they had the hat out, solicting contributions for their legal fight.

Oh well, I'm still glad we live in America where we have freedom of speech. Norman Rockwell made a wonderful painting of that too, with a man standing before his neighbors and voicing an opinion, the very heart of democracy. Perhaps PARD realizes Wal-Mart supporters have that same right. I'm not holding my breath.

Free Speech or Free-For-All?

Today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News has the following to say about last night's Moscow Planning and Zoning Commission meeting:

"...the meeting was marked by interruptions, outbursts, cat calls, snorts and even a few 'boos,' most notably when New Saint Andrews College president and dean Roy Atwood got up to speak..."

Folks, this is NOT free speech. It's a free-for-all. It's not democracy. It's anarchy. Democracy, at least in the United States, does mot mean mob rule, where those who shout the loudest get to make the laws. There have to be rules, limits and respect in public conversation. Normal, everyday people are not going to go to public hearings like that, and they certainly are not going to stand up and speak before such a hostile crowd. Eventually, since that is all they ever hear, politicians begin to give credence to those clamorous views. The radicals know this, and that is why it is their preferred tactic. Intimidation under the guise of free speech. They believe that anything they do to further their cause is justified.

The same thing has happened here in Pullman with Wal-Mart. I have talked to scores of people over the past few weeks about the issue. Everyone supports Wal-Mart, but many are afraid to do so publicly. Why? It's just a store, right? Wrong.

PARD has poisoned the discourse with their radicalism at city council meetings, press conferences, public gatherings, and in the media. In recent letters to the editor, PARD members mentioned how Wal-Mart supporters have used "polarizing" language that "undermines dialogue" and the city council is "denying the democratic process." In these same letters, however, they speciously link Wal-Mart to meth labs and the decline of the public education system. What will they blame it for next? The Mariners' horrible season? Wal-Mart is an all-purpose boogeyman to the leftists.

When people read or hear these strident diatribes about Wal-Mart and slave labor, poverty, crime, sexism, etc, etc., they think to themselves: "Wow, this person is really angry." Most people tend to avoid nasty confrontations and controversy, especially when hot-button subjects are involved. They don't want to write letters to the editor for fear of being attacked or ridiculed in a retaliatory letter or having their store boycotted. Many shy away from trading jibes with professors who have Ph.Ds in protesting. So next thing you know, PARD dominates the debate over Wal-Mart, all the while pretending to be the victims of a conspiracy by the city and Wal-Mart to stifle them. What a great strategy. How undemocratic. People in Pullman will soon learn about the lengths PARD will go to to win.

It's time for the conservatives in Moscow and Pullman (and there are many) to stand up to this radical menace. The futures of our communities are at stake. It won't be easy, but it's very important.