"Is PARD's concern genuine?"

On July 20, 2005, I wrote in an open letter to TV Reed and the Pullman Alliance for Respnsible Development:

At this point, you have two choices.

You can immolate yourself on the pyre of Wal-Mart or, if you are sincere about responsible development in Pullman, save whatever political capital you have left and move on to another issue.

Obviously, two-and-a-half years and three appeals against Wal-Mart later, he and PARD chose the former. Now, if they have another legitimate agenda for Pullman, they have long since burnt all their bridges and lost all credibility with Pullman residents. For example, this letter appeared in today's Daily News with regards to PARD's Affordable Housing forum last week:

Hillary Hamm's article (Daily News, Nov. 30) regarding the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development concern about the cost of housing in Pullman seems incredibly ironic. Deirdre Rogers, the chairwoman of PARD, said in the article that PARD's goal is to bring together community leaders to find a solution to the affordable housing issue. One way for the residents of Pullman to have more of their income available for housing, would be to decrease other household expenses. This could be done by allowing a Wal-Mart to be built in Pullman.

Wal-Mart provides merchandise at lower prices, saving its customers money. Also, Pullman residents could save much in gas expenses if they did not have to drive to Moscow or Lewiston for an item not available for sale in this town. The residents of Pullman would further benefit from the presence of Wal-Mart by increased tax revenues of approximately $500,000 per year, as estimated by Mayor Glenn Johnson in a Nov. 27 article also by Hillary Hamm.

Think about what $500,000 in additional annual revenue could do for our parks, police, or fire department. If PARD is really concerned about the quality of life for the residents of Pullman, they would put a stop to the endless litigation against Wal-Mart (which, by the way, according to Troy Woo, Pullman finance director, has already cost the Pullman city taxpayers more than $36,000 in legal fees).

How about it PARD? Since you have already lost in court two times, please stop the stall tactics, give up the battle, let the free market reign and show genuine concern for our community.

Laura Zeller, Pullman

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