[Vision2020] LM Tribune: Wal-Mart forum panelist says let big store come to town

[joekc at adelphia.net]

Area Man,

Among those who didn't make the meeting last night was -- you, a candidate in 2007 no less!

I -- another candidate in 2007 -- was there but you were not! So I don't have to listen to the Trib's view of things. I know that the audience -- Moscow's own citizens -- kicked some economist butt. Look for the details in weeks to follow.

The worst of it, Dan, is that I had no one to have a beer with because you missed the meeting! That is a true shame. I hope you show some more responsibility in the future, like in the next MCA general meeting in 2-3 weeks.

Joe Campbell


---- "Area Man (Dan C)" <areaman at moscow.com> wrote: 
> For those of us who couldn't make it last night, and those of you who
> don't get the Trib:
> ________________________________________________________
> 
> WAL-MART FORUM PANELIST SAYS LET BIG STORE COME TO TOWN
> 
> By JOEL MILLS of the Tribune
> 
> MOSCOW -- While a community forum on the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter
> in Moscow drew about 200 people, one comment reverberated more than the
> rest.
> 
> There were probably far more people shopping at Moscow's current
> Wal-Mart during the forum than actually attending the forum, an audience
> member who didn't identify himself said to applause.
> 
> The point seemed to spread during the evening forum hosted by the Moscow
> Civic Association at the 1912 Center.
> 
> "The only thing worse than having a Wal-Mart is not having a Wal-Mart,"
> said panelist Stephen Cooke, an associate professor of agricultural
> economics and rural sociology at the University of Idaho. "They've got
> us over a barrel."
> 
> Cooke and other panelists said that while Wal-Mart may use some unsavory
> business practices, it provides jobs and low prices to people who need
> them.
> 
> Cooke presented statistics that showed an initial bump in local retail
> when a Wal-Mart arrives. But that bump comes at a price, he said.
> Communities within a 20-mile radius of that Wal-Mart see sharp declines
> in their retail, he said.
> 
> His advice was to let the super center come to town, but impose
> regulations on it that make it work for the community, not vice versa.
> 
> Cooke referred to an emergency "big box" store ordinance the Moscow City
> Council passed in August. It requires conditional-use permits for
> buildings larger than 40,000 square feet.
> 
> That permit application process would require a public hearing with the
> Zoning Board of Adjustment, which can require conditions be met before
> construction can start.
> 
> The ordinance continues into early February when a permanent version
> will be voted on by the city council.
> 
> Panelist Jeff Harkins, an accounting professor at UI, said the free
> market should be allowed to dictate which businesses come to town and
> which businesses survive.
> 
> "This is a question about process," Harkins said. If the city decides to
> impose conditions on one business, it should impose them on all
> businesses, he said, while acknowledging his belief that Wal-Mart does
> use some "naughty" business practices.
> 
> Freedom of consumer choice is the most important vote Americans have,
> Harkins said. "This meeting can't be a vigilantism targeted at one
> business.
> 
> "Who is going to control where you shop?" Harkins asked. "I prefer a
> model that says you can shop wherever you like."
> 
> He agreed with Cooke that the city should put the "right strait jacket
> on Wal-Mart" to ensure its business practices are in line with community
> values.
> 
> Another panelist, Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. of Moscow Chief
> Executive Officer Andrew Crapuchettes, said he moved to Moscow from the
> San Fransisco Bay Area several years ago for the quality of life, and
> Wal-Mart was going to change that.
> 
> "I think Moscow as a town should be striving towards truth, beauty and
> goodness," Crapuchettes said. "Wal-Mart doesn't matter."
> 
> AmericanWest Bank Vice President BJ Swanson was the one panelist
> steadfastly opposed to the super center.
> 
> "I'm a firm believer in a free market," she said. "But a free market is
> rarely pure."
> 
> Local and national regulations exist to level the economic playing
> field, Swanson said, adding that Wal-Mart's pay scale and reliance on
> cheap Chinese goods don't represent fair play.
> 
> Swanson said other communities have succeeded in keeping out Wal-Mart
> because it follows the path of least resistance. If Moscow doesn't want
> Wal-Mart, put up a fight and it will go elsewhere, she said.
> 
> But that is what Harkins and others feared: the loss of jobs and tax
> revenue a super center would generate.
> 
> The proposed super center would be built on 31 acres of land southeast
> of the intersection of State Highway 8 and Mountain View Road.
> It would contain 203,819 square feet of space that adds groceries and a
> tire and lube center to Wal-Mart's usual line of discount retail items.
> It also would include more than 1,000 parking spaces and a 10-pump gas
> station, according to the city.
> 
> City staff announced the proposed Wal-Mart in November with a list of
> hurdles the world's largest retailer must clear before it can build.
> 
> The first is a rezone of 77.6 acres of recently annexed farmland to the
> city's Motor Business Zoning District. That process will be overseen by
> Moscow's Community Development Department.
> 
> The rezone and preliminary plat approval require public hearings with
> planning and zoning and the city council.
> 
> The current regulation-size Wal-Mart on Warbonnet Drive in west Moscow
> would close if the super center is built. Some in the audience were
> concerned over what would happen to that store if it is abandoned.
> 
> A proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter 10 miles away in Pullman has met with
> opposition from some community members.
> 
> The civic group Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development has
> appealed the city's initial approval of that store. Hearings on the
> appeal have been set for 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Gladish Community
> Center auditorium and for 10:30 a.m. Jan. 20 at the city council
> chambers at Pullman City Hall.
> ------
> Mills may be contacted at jmills at lmtribune.com 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------------------
> 
> Watching and waiting,
> 
> DC
> 
> _____________________________________________________
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