[Vision2020] RE: The Immorality of Blocking a Supercenter

Tue Jun 27 19:46:44 PDT 2006

Mr. Dickinson, I found your use of the phrase " I think that all of us expected the developers to return with a more interesting way of using the entire property." a puzzlement. Is this to be the criteria for future proposals put before the P&Z and the city council? Never mind the utility of any given plan, amuse us!  Forget whether a development might serve the community and incidentally allow a few folks to make a living, dance for us! Don't bore us with Super centers or other forms of plebeian retail development, engage our imaginations in, here to fore, undreamed of ways! Every parking lot a parade ground, every apartment a palace, every office development, Oz. Perhaps the Thompson's will return with a proposal that includes a  Neiman Marcus, a home for unappreciated entrepreneurs, a Bongs 'R' Us, a down at the heel developers soup kitchen, a three ring circus and, oh yeah, a pony ride.  That would be good.  Would this meet your expectations for "more interesting?" 

gc
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John Dickinson 
  To: 'Donovan Arnold' ; 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 ; nchaney at ci.moscow.id.us ; vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 5:26 PM
  Subject: [Vision2020] RE: The Immorality of Blocking a Supercenter

  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 Yahoo! Mail Beta.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  =====================================================
   List services made available by First Step Internet, 
   serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
                 http://www.fsr.net                       
            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
  ====================================================
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20060627/5c0fa1ec/attachment-0001.htm