[Vision2020] Recall the city council

Sun Mar 23 20:25:42 PDT 2008

Joe,

  There is no such thing as a Super Wal-Mart. It is called a Super Wal-Mart Center. 

  Second, it sounds to me like you are saying that you are for a larger department store in someone else's backyard, but not your own. We had to build more apartments on A st. because Moscow would not allow building anywhere else because of the opposition to Urban Sprawl. Also, that is where apartments are closer to the University, walking distance to campus, which reduces traffic and population. 

  If you wanted a Wal-Mart Super Center on the West side of town, you got your wish. I personally think pulling Pullman shoppers all the way across town seeing all our shops and restaurants would be better than them stopping just outside of town not seeing what Moscow has to offer. I think making Moscow the shopping center of the Palouse would have been economically beneficial for the community. 

  Best Regards,

  Donovan

Joe Campbell <joekc at adelphia.net> wrote:
  First, no one threatened the previous council. They were elected in part because of their ideas about smart growth vs. growth at any cost.

Second, if and when the Hawkins area starts to develop, it will have as much to do with the current council selling water rights and opening up the flood gates (no pun intended) as anything else. Why not complain about that?

Third, some of us (me at least) were opposed to the Super Walmart location -- on the east side of town, which would have caused huge traffic problems -- as opposed to Walmart per se. I'd rather see Walmart develop on the west side of town rather than the east. I'd rather even see it developed in Washington than across from the East Side Mall.

Fourth, one might ask, Why didn't Super Walmart develop on the west side of town? Part of the answer is that the area of town which was zoned for that type of purpose (viz. A Street) was eventually turned into apartments. It happened well before the mayor and previous council were in office, when back door deals were common and ignorance of the comprehensive plan was celebrated. I fear much the same from the current council, as the details of the last Hawkins seem to reveal.

Find out the facts, Donovan, and criticize the folks who deserve criticism. If A Street were available for Super Walmart -- which would benefit most of the folks in town -- as opposed to apartments -- which benefit a minority -- there would not have been the level of opposition that there was. I wouldn't have opposed such a development. Not that I would have liked it -- I'm still anti-Walmart for reasons other than their location on the Palouse -- but I wouldn't have opposed a Super Walmart on A Street.

--
Joe Campbell

---- Donovan Arnold wrote: 

=============
Like we didn't see this coming?

The Moscow City Council rejected fair efforts by Wal-Mart to play ball according to the rules laid out by Moscow. Now Wal-Mart is going across the street to play ball over there. You didn't think that was going to happen? Of course it is.

This is why people, economic professors included, were saying to the then Moscow City Council and Mayor to work with Wal-Mart so we have the revenue, set the environmental standards, and the layout to our advantage.

When a handful of noisy vocal, we know what's best, residents showed up to threaten the council if they voted to support Wal-Mart, they with that vote, gave 100% of the power, revenue, and jobs to Whitman County, just one mile away. Was it worth it? I think not.

Wal-Mart is much bigger than Moscow, and will have a Super Center in the area, regardless of a few efforts by some community members. The Anti-Wal-Mart effort was only successful in preventing a Green Wal-Mart that brought jobs and revenue to the community from coming into the Moscow city limits. It was not successful in anything else. 

Best Regards,

Donovan

roger hayes wrote:

> Moscow citizens need to take a good look at what the city council's 
> decision to provide water and sewer to the Hawkins company will bring.
> Yesterday's Daily News posted some serious speculation about WalMart 
> building a Super Center in the Hawkin's development. Earlier, I did 
> have a suspicion that was a distinct possibility. I could not see how 
> a Lowes could be the anchor store. WalMart, Idaho division, remains 
> tight lipped about its plans, but would not rule out the possibility. 
> A local WalMart employee speculated that it is a reality.
> By providing water and sewer service across the state line, Moscow 
> taxpayers may now subsidize the construction of WalMart. Whitman 
> county taxpayers are providing over 10 million in infrastructure 
> development. This is an ultimate irony since both communities have 
> waged campaigns against the building of a Super Center in their 
> communities. And in Moscow's case, we are dealing a vast economic blow 
> to our community.
> Much more is going on than we citizens know. What other "deals" are 
> happening behind closed doors?
> I do feel that if WalMart comes in it will prove how inept, and most 
> likely, corrupt the current Moscow city council is. The council will 
> no doubt plead ignorance, and do so with an arrogant smile.
We need to do something and do it quickly. Any ideas?
>

> Roger Hayes
>

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