[Vision2020] RE: The Immorality of Blocking a Supercenter

Tue Jun 27 17:26:25 PDT 2006

Donovan,

I disagree with most of what you say, mostly because you begin many of your
concerns with premises that I disagree with, so I will concentrate on just a
few of your points.

Recent City Council actions regarded the rezoning of a large chink of land
into a single type of commercial zone. The Planning and Zoning Commission
had reviewed this request earlier. The decision by City Council was the same
as the decision by P&Z. I think that all of us expected the developers to
return with a more interesting way of using the entire property (that was
the suggestion of P&Z and Council). As others have said, I don't think that
any particular development required the entire property. 

The vote was not about Wal-Mart (which could not be mentioned at the
meetings). I would have loved to have gotten to the stage where we could
have discussed the design of a specific store - we have never gotten to that
point. Informal conversations I have had with my brother, Pete Dickinson -
Pullman City Planner, and others have enlightened me to the variety of
designs that Wal-Mart (and I assume other stores of this type) use.

I don't think we can be accused of being anti-Wal-Mart, Moscow has a
Wal-Mart. There are discussions about sizes of retail stores. I think
discussions are good; there are many points of view to consider.

I don't think that Moscow is anti-business. I don't believe that it is
responsible government to say Yes to every development without question -
whether it be residential or commercial. I thought that the results of both
the P&Z and the Council were positive messages to the developers. Their
public statements led me to this conclusion. 

We cannot preserve Moscow's character by freezing the community. But I do
think that the community can and should continue to ask questions about
every development, lot division, street improvement, budget line item, i.e.
everything - because this is your community and we all want to pass it on to
our children's children in a form that they would be proud to live in.

John Dickinson
Moscow City Council

  _____  

From: Donovan Arnold [mailto:donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 8:27 AM
To: aaronament at moscow.com; lpall at moscow.com; bstout at ci.moscow.id.us;
blambert at ci.moscow.id.us; jweber at ci.moscow.id.us; johnd at moscow.com;
nchaney at ci.moscow.id.us; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: The Immorality of Blocking a Supercenter

Dear Mayor Chaney and members of the City Council,

I am writing you regarding the recent decision of the City to block a
Wal-Mart Supercenter. I believe such a decision is damaging to most of the
residents of Moscow and the surrounding community, but particularly its most
vulnerable for several reasons.

First, Wal-Mart has a starting wage of $8-$9 an hour. This is a
significantly higher wage then what other grocery stores, retail outlets,
and even the City have established as a starting wage. Even the Co-Op pays
18% less than Wal-Mart. I challenge the Mayor and members of the City
Council, or any resident to find a grocery or general retail store that pays
a higher starting wage in our local community. With the City rejecting the
businesses that pay higher wages, the City is expressing that it believes
$5.15 is an acceptable wage for the people of Moscow. A Wal-Mart Supercenter
would provide more jobs that pay higher wage while also requiring other
employees to pay their workers a similar livable wage if they desire to keep
quality workers.

Second, a Wal-Mart Supercenter provides goods and services not otherwise
offered in the Moscow area. Millions of dollars are lost every year to
Pullman, Lewiston, Spokane, and the Internet because the City is blocking
retail outlets from selling those products. A Supercenter would offer more
goods and services to the people of Moscow while keeping tax dollars and
jobs here in Moscow where they belong. 

Third, A Wal-Mart Supercenter would offer goods and services at a lower cost
to members of the community because it can move high volume and has the
infrastructure to do so efficiently. With an average salary of only $24,000
a year for Moscow residents, and an annual household income of about $30,000
for Latah households, costs need to be lower, not higher. Moscow residents
have to pay more for goods and services already because of a lack of
competition, the cost of shipping a low volume of goods a long distance, and
a lack of capital in investments in roads and infrastructure to do it
effectively. To punish Moscow residents with an added transportation tax by
making them drive to another town to get the items they need at an
affordable price is another unnecessary burden inflicted on the people by
the City.   

Fourth, Moscow loses even more jobs. When Moscow blocks one business that
puts resources into trying to locate here, it blocks two more that decide
not to attempt as a result. The City has developed a far reaching reputation
that it does not want businesses here. That hurts the residents of Moscow.  

Fifth, we lose anyway. The City of Moscow will simply lose to Pullman,
Latah, or Whitman County. We will still have all the negative impacts of
having a Wal-Mart Supercenter but without the tax dollars, jobs, and
surrounding businesses that prosper from close proximity to the new store.  

Finally, I think there are diversity and equality issues that are being
ignored. The people that have the most difficulty getting and keeping a job
at a decent wage are minorities, the elderly, and the disabled. Wal-Mart has
successfully employed these individuals in higher numbers than anyone else.
Many small businesses do not high the elderly and disabled in any greater
numbers than they have to because they fear medical and retirement costs.
Minorities have always been discriminated against. I think it sends a clear
message to other businesses in the community when the most successful retail
outlet in the world does so by hiring in higher numbers people other
businesses won't hire because of age, ethnicity, or disability. The city has
a moral obligation to not bar businesses that employ and give opportunities
to those other businesses only hire out of fear of the law, rather than
acknowledging that they have real value and skills that make a business
successful. For the City to block the greatest opportunities for the
elderly, poor, disabled, and minorities is discrimination. The only people
allowed by our City leaders to make a decent living wage in our community
appears to be the wealthy members that have the capital to create and expand
their own businesses and are allowed to employ everyone else for a slave
wage of $5.15 an hour. 

I ask that the Mayor and members of the City Council reconsider and allow a
Supercenter into our community. Blocking commerce hurts both the seller and
buyer, and the buyers are the residents of Moscow. Blocking higher starting
wages in our community hurts the poorest. Shutting down, slowing down,
removing, and blocking employers that hire the disabled, elderly, and
minorities, hurts the elderly, disabled, and minorities. I hope you will
consider these facts as the county and University lose population and the
number of people in Moscow continue to live a lower quality of life in
comparison to rest of the state and nation. 

Best Regards,

Donovan J Arnold
Moscow Resident

  _____  

Do you Yahoo!?
Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=40791/*http:/advision.webevents.yahoo.com/handra
isers>  Yahoo! Mail Beta.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20060627/a26f01bd/attachment.htm