[Vision2020] The candidates' disputatio

[pkraut at moscow.com]

I was at the NSA Disputatio for all of it and I found it very interesting. 
Keely, Wayne said that people were being forced to shop only in the store 
that the council has OK'd and only in the location said acceptable store 
could be built. Aaron and others have made it clear that any new building 
will be done by the mall even though most of Moscow now lives on the other 
side of main street. I believe someone said it was 68% of us live on the 
side with a small mall and one grocery store and no place to get a pair of 
shoes. Or buy a coat. I was recently privy to a conversation between two 
widows one of whom needs a new coat. She had been to Walmart and looked in 
the Shopko ads but didn't see what she thought she wanted. I was suggested 
she go to TriState but she didn't think she could afford the price. So, 
the two made arrangements for a trip to Lewiston! Because the council 
decided that we didn't need a bigger Walmart with more options two ladies 
on fixed incomes must go to Lewiston to shop. That is being forced to shop 
only in the locations and stores that are acceptable to those who have 
more options than widows on a fixed income. It is elitist of them just 
because they have more funds they think everyone should do it their way 
leaving no choice for others. If one wants a bigger Walmart, Kmart, 
Penneys or other stores you have to leave Moscow. It is wonderful that you 
found your socks but when you want something that our current Walmart does 
not have room to carry or if it were at a price you could not afford where 
would you shop? Some place other than Moscow.


> 
> I was able to attend the first hour of this afternoon's NSA Disputatio
with>  the candidates for City Council.  Before I go further, I want to 
say that
> I appreciate all of those who are running, simply because they're willing
t> o put themselves in the crosshairs, so to speak, as elected
representatives> ..  I know personally how trying that can be, and I'm 
grateful to them for
w> anting to serve.
> 
> Now, obviously, I think some of them would do better than others; nothing
a> t the Disputatio changed my mind on that.  It certainly wasn't a neutral
au> dience, and it wasn't designed to be.  However, I do think that the
GMA-end> orsed candidates who were there (Carscallen and Krauss; Walter 
Steed
didn't>  attend) got Larry King-style softball questions.  Pall, Lamar and 
Ament
we> re the recipients of -- I'm choking at the comparison here -- Keith
Olberma> nn-style bullets.  And Evan Holmes turned every question into a 
bit of a
lo> vefest from him to his hosts, so the questions got buried in his 
effusive
c> ompliments.  
> 
> I didn't think, as Evan did, that the questions evinced an "elevated"
under> standing of local current events.  Of course, that's true of most
college-a> ge students.  However, they don't don black robes and play 
Oxford Don by
en> gaging their elders in topics clearly over their heads.  (I've attended
thr> ee Disputatios now and each time have failed to see any actual debate,
alth> ough, to their credit, the NSAers are unfailingly polite, if a little
breat> hlessly so).   What I saw was a three-student panel of earnest, 
attractive
> young people who had been tutored well in . . . well, I'm not sure what,
bu> t they seemed right on target when it came to assumptions that Pall and
Ame> nt, at least, were against them.  (Pall, by the way, came off utterly
state> sman-like, and Ament handled well the discomfort he must have faced 
when
on> e of the student questioners asked him about his previous "NSA kids are
and> roids" comments.  And yeah, I wish he hadn't said that two years ago, 
as I
> told him.  Still, I think he's done a good job on the council, and I'd
vote>  for him if I lived in the city limits.  I also am an admirer of 
Senor
Cars> callen, who is a classy guy).  
> 
> Most troublesome to me was Krauss' repeated assertions that people
shouldn'> t be told where they can or cannot shop, presumably referring to 
the Super
> WalMart issue.  I probably disagree with his stand on the building of a
Sup> er WalMart on the Thompson acreage east of town, but I'm puzzled at 
the
ide> a that any of my neighbors has been told that she "can't shop" 
someplace. 
>  With all respect to Mr. Krauss, I'd like to make clear that those of us
wh> o opposed that particular plan with that particular store have never
sugges> ted that people be barred from shopping at, say, the currently 
existing
Wal> Mart.  In fact, I bought socks there last week.   And I'm thrilled 
that
NSA>  students, especially the young married ones, have a place to buy baby
boot> ies and Rubbermade containers and Cheetos and cat food and pajamas.  
I'm
ag> hast, however, at the apparent doctrine of economic growth they've been
tau> ght, if the fruit of that teaching is a fervent belief that low-paying
serv> ice jobs at a store that would replace at least one or two existing 
Moscow
> stores is a top-notch idea.  I'm perplexed, too, that these well-
scrubbed,
> well-spoken, well-heeled young people are having the difficulty finding
wor> k in Moscow a couple of them described.  My most recent experiences 
at,
say> , Wendy's and WalMart illustrate to me that a lot of people are 
working
who>  really would never make it in a more competitive market.  But what 
kind
of>  living wage can places like that pay, you ask?  
> 
> That's kinda my point.
> 
> Anyway, the Disputatio did nothing to change my mind regarding how I'd
vote>  if I weren't so darn rural these days, nor did it make me think any 
less
o> r any more of NSA students.  However, I would have LOVED to have asked
just>  one question, and so I'll ask it here; I hope any Lurking Kirkers 
will
fee> l free to forward to any candidates of their acquaintance:
> 
> To any of the candidates:  Do you believe that any religious or
educational>  group in Moscow is or has been the victim of persecution on 
the part of
th> e City?  And if, as one of the GMA-endorsed candidates 
said, "perception
IS>  reality" in Moscow politics, could the perception that the 
administrators
> of Christ Church and NSA are scofflaws have anything to do with the chill
t> hey feel?  
> 
> A second question might be:  Is it "selected enforcement" or "selective
com> pliance" when a group was warned by the City six or seven years ago 
that
th> eir boarding houses violated code, and who were told to cease running 
them
> and to stop recruiting people to board students, and yet continued to
opera> te, even expand, their boarding-house system?  Why was the previous
ordinan> ce provoking a written rejoinder from the City in 1999 not 
enforced?  And
s> hould the City take into account a particular group's reputation for
arroga> nce and less-than-transparent disclosure when dealing with that 
group?
> 
> Enquiring minds want to know.
> 
> keely
> 
> 
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