[Vision2020] Wal-Mart Study Appears to be lawed

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (February 14, 2006) Moscow-Pullman daily News with a special
thanks to Cynthia Hosick.

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Wal-Mart study appears to be flawed

After reading the Johnson/Gardner economic and fiscal impact "study," I
would like to point out a couple of discrepancies that are significant
enough to render its reliability questionable.

First, on pages 7 and 10 are references to Washington State University's
"quarterly academic sessions/enrollment."  Shouldn't a real study know that
WSU is on a semester system?  That's pretty basic information about this
town.

Second, Figure 3 gives counts of various businesses in Pullman.  I compared
the Johnson/Gardner numbers with a quick count from our local phone book.
Even considering both their figures and mine as estimates, more than half of
the obvious categories differ startlingly:

- Furniture and home furnishings:  J/G: 28, phone book: 6

- Electronic and appliance stores:  J/G: 94, phone book: 7

- Building material, garden equipment and supplies:  J/G: 30, phone book: 6

- Health and personal care:  J/G: 40, phone book: 26

- Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music:  J/G: 52, phone book10

- General merchandise:  J/G: 7, phone book: 3

- Food services and drinking places:  J/G: 58, phone book: 38

I don't pretend to have any expertise in this field.

However, if such easy information as the above counts and the WSU academic
schedule are so off-base, one might be inclined to question
Johnson/Gardner's interpretations in the rest of the report.

Last, in continuing to lobby for an independent fiscal/economic impact
study, I would offer the following dictionary definition of "independent":
not influenced or controlled by others in matter of opinion, or subject to
another's authority or jurisdiction.  If Pullman's hearing examiner were to
recommend that Wal-Mart be required to pay for a full study, I would
strongly support a choice of company for the study by Montgomery himself - a
company completely unaffiliated with either Wal-Mart or the city of Pullman.
That would be a true independent study.

Cynthia Hosick
Pullman

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Note to Moscow City Council:  Consider the above referenced Johnson/Gardner
fiscal impact study to be a MAJOR red flag.

Take care, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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"A bad cause will ever be supported by bad means and bad men." 

- Thomas Paine (English Writer, 1737-1809)

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