[Vision2020] Location is Everything

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Letters section of today's (January 20, 2012) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with much appreciation to Garrett Clevenger.

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Location is everything
Posted: Friday, January 20, 2012 12:00 am
After reading Whitman County Commissioner Pat O'Neill's column (His View, Jan. 18), I wonder why, if he truly asks, "Is it good for all the residents of Whitman County," he supports placing the megamall where it's mostly intended to serve (i.e. take business away from) Moscow?
Wouldn't building the mall closer to Pullman, perhaps west of Pullman, instead of at the eastern border, better serve the rest of Whitman County?
Why should residents in Colfax, or even Pullman, who presumably will pay for the $15 million-plus Hawkins subsidy, have to drive almost to Moscow to shop? If the mall were west of Pullman, the rest of Whitman County would have more convenient shopping opportunities.
Folks in Whitman County may have to live with their elected officials' belief that tax dollars should be used to build the mall, but I imagine they'd want to at least make sure the subsidy makes sense and will pay itself back. They'd probably also hope that what they are supporting financially is built with their best interests at heart, not Hawkins's bottom line.
It seems like the Hawkins deal serves more the desire to develop the Moscow-Pullman corridor than serve the needs of Whitman County residents.
I wonder what other enterprises these commissioners are willing to invest tax dollars in, with or without really doing due diligence?
Garrett Clevenger, Moscow
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Seeya later, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Post Falls, Idaho

"If not us, who?
If not now, when?"

- Unknown
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