Can We Afford "Smart Growth?"

A new UW study of Seattle housing prices says "No":

Between 1989 and 2006, the median inflation-adjusted price of a Seattle house rose from $221,000 to $447,800. Fully $200,000 of that increase was the result of land-use regulations, says Theo Eicher — twice the financial impact that regulation has had on other major U.S. cities.

What land-use regulations you say?

A key regulation is the state's Growth Management Act, enacted in 1990 in response to widespread public concern that sprawl could destroy the area's unique character. To preserve it, the act promoted restrictions on where housing can be built. The result is artificial density that has driven up home prices by limiting supply, Eicher says.

And who is it that pushes for these onerous regulations?

According to the Wharton study, cities such as Seattle that have high median incomes, high home prices and a large percentage of college-educated workers tend to have the most land-use regulations.

Sjoblom says that makes sense: "People with higher incomes want the kind of amenities that regulation provides," he says. "If you're a homeowner and growth controls are imposed and housing prices shoot up, you're grandfathered because you own the place. In theory people will say it's [rising prices] a bad thing, but in practice it's not hurting them."

[...]

In the final analysis, Eicher believes Seattle's regulatory climate exists because its residents want it. "My sense is land-use restrictions are imposed to generate socially desirable outcomes," he says. "We all love parks and green spaces. But we must also be informed about the costs. It's very easy to vote for a park if you think the cost is free."

Ah, now I see. The same old unholy alliance of left-wing no-growthers and selfish NIMBYists.

Pullman suffers from the same sort of problem as Seattle does to a lesser extent: artificially high home prices created by regulations created by snobby eltitists. For example, the PARDners say they want affordable housing while at the same time pressing for even more restrictive land use regulations. And let's not forget Cheryl Morgan and the League of Women Voters who also work to do everything they can to make development more difficult in Pullman.

"Clarkston Wal-Mart plans steaming ahead"

Meanwhile, kookless Clarkston will have a Wal-Mart Supercenter summer after next...

From today's Lewiston Tribune:

Wal-Mart could open across the street from Costco in Clarkston by June 2009.

That's the prediction of Jim Martin, Clarkston public works director, who has been working with the nation's biggest retailer on its plans to open a super center there.

Much is taking place behind the scenes, even though little activity is happening at the proposed 26-acre site on Fifth Street that has yet to be purchased by Wal-Mart, Martin says.

Consultants with the big-box chain continue to follow the schedule that's been developed in communication with city officials and has been happening for about a year, Martin says.

Wal-Mart has completed a traffic study. Comments about the study are due soon from the Washington Department of Transportation and the architecture and engineering firm USKH, Martin said.

The city of Clarkston hired USKH with money from the Lewis-Clark Metropolitan Planning Organization, Martin said.

The city will look at the information provided by all those parties and then negotiate with Wal-Mart about what kinds of changes it will require.

City building officials also will be sending out notices to agencies such as the Department of Ecology and Fish and Wildlife as part of following the State Environmental Policy Act. Those agencies will be invited to comment on any additional pollution Wal-Mart might create, such as more lighting, noise and car exhaust. The city might request additional mitigation based on those remarks, Martin said.

But Martin doesn't expect any of those steps in the process will present major obstacles. The property is located in a zone that allows big-box stores and he's not aware of any significant environmental issues. "The consultants for Wal-Mart do not leave any stone unturned. They've been going over the property with a fine-tooth comb."

Once Wal-Mart gets its building permit, which could be as early as June, Martin expects it will take between 12 and 18 months to complete. "This isn't their first time at the prom. So I don't imagine it will be a slow process."

Opening super centers in other communities has taken longer.

Wal-Mart has discussed seeking a super center site in Lewiston since at least 2001, but any steps the retailer has made toward that goal have never been made public.

In Pullman, Wal-Mart has acquired 28 acres in the 400 block of Bishop Boulevard. Plans for a super center there were first announced in October 2004, said Pete Dickinson, city planning. But plans for the store continue to be stalled in litigation.

Three judges in Washington's Division III Court of Appeals in Spokane heard arguments in the case on Dec. 19. Typically the judges take three to six months to issue their opinions, according to an employee in the office of the court's clerks.

The case involves an appeal by the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development of an initial decision by the city of Pullman to allow the super center.

Wal-Mart also examined opening a super center in Moscow, where it already has a discount store. But that idea was put on the back burner because it found the city's process for a proposed site too cumbersome.

The recent shift in Moscow's city council doesn't seem to have changed Wal-Mart's stance. "We'd still like to serve our customers there with a super center, but at this point, it's kind of on hold," says Karianne Fallow, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart in Boise.

Farther north, in Hayden Lake, the process has been complicated too. City Manager Jay Townsend estimates Wal-Mart has been working on its plans for at least five years.

Initially Wal-Mart wanted to locate on two parcels of land, but only one of them was zoned for the development. The city denied a request to rezone one of the parcels after a packed public hearing, and Wal-Mart went back and redid its design so it could use a single parcel, Townsend says.

Doing so is costing Wal-Mart hundreds of thousands of dollars in mitigation, such as replacing a sewer lift station that has to be moved and creating an additional travel lane on U.S. Highway 95, Townsend says.

The city of Hayden also successfully negotiated with Wal-Mart to make the facade of the store tan and brown with rock veneer instead of the standard gray with red, white and blue. The idea is to blend with the rustic flavor Hayden Lake is trying to develop as part of a revitalization project. "We wanted something that was going to fit within the community itself," Townsend says.

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Say What?

Joseph Erhard-Hudson, Internet technology manager at the Moscow Food Co-op, said the store could have pretty bare shelves by Monday if the bad weather continues through the weekend.

The Co-op's biggest shipment arrives Saturday.

"Our main warehouse and main supplier is on the west side of (Washington)," Erhard-Hudson said. "One shipment from them was supposed to come (Wednesday) but didn't show up until (Thursday)."

The Saturday delivery could be delayed because of the closure of Snoqualmie Pass.

"(The truck) will probably reroute through Portland, which will add six hours to their travel time," Erhard-Hudson said. "I don't know what their ETA is."

He said the warehouse in Washington ships three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and provides the "lion's share" of the grocery items and about half of the store's wellness products.

A meat shipment from Portland to Spokane on Monday took 12-13 hours, and that was before the truck rolled into Moscow to drop a shipment off at the Co-op.

- "Businesses adjust to delivery delays caused by heavy snow," Moscow-Pullman Daily News, February 2, 2008

Our owners save money every time they shop and at the same time help build the local economy. Every dollar spent at the Co-op has roughly three times as much local economic impact as a dollar spent elsewhere...

The Co-op buys from local vendors whenever possible. In fact we buy from almost 100 different local growers and producers; including items like eggs, meat, salsa, chocolate, honey, lentils and produce.

- Moscow Food Co-Op Web Site

BWWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The Mirror Has Two Faces

I also agree with others who have written in before on these issues who have complained the driving all the way from Pullman to the sprawl area where Hawkins would wish to build is a waste of gas and not environmentally sound.

- PARDner Christopher Lupke, online comment, Moscow-Pullman Daily News website, January 30, 2008

Burma seems to have forgotten there is a Wal-Mart seven miles away. If she has trouble getting there, I’d be happy to do the neighborly thing and take her. She has a right to shop for shoddy sweatshop-made goods if she wishes.

- PARDner T.V. Reed Monday, letter to the editor, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, January 1, 2007

10. We already have a Wal-Mart 7 miles away, and a new Supercenter is being planned for Moscow

- "Top 10 Reasons a Wal-Mart Supercenter Would Be Bad for Pullman," PARD Poster at 2005 National Lentil Festival

While we understand some people in Pullman who think it only fair turnabout to gain sales at the expense of Moscow, for a number of reasons that is highly unlikely to happen. Moreover, at a time when the Pullman and Moscow governments are seeking to cooperate on a number of projects, including responsible development of the Route 270 corridor, this is no time for store wars to ruin good will.

- PARD Position Paper

The Hawkins "sprawl area" to which Lupke refers is directly adjacent to the existing Wal-Mart that the PARDners direct folks to, as well as the Moscow businesses which they are so deeply concerned about.

If you are getting motion sickness trying to follow all of PARD's gyrations on the various issues, don't worry. You're not alone. Fortunately, Lu Laoshi's hypocritical rantings on the Hawkins development will remain just that: the inane, incoherent, illogical ramblings of an academic with a hugely overblown sense of self-importance. PARD has no big labor sugar daddy to bankroll an appeal of the Hawkins project.

Chris Lupke: Working Class Hero

Fear not, gentle reader, The PARD of Avon is back. He wrote the following on the Daily News website last Friday:

I am pleased to see Alice Schroeder speak out against this ill-conceived plan to prop up the Hawkins Project on the back of Whitman county residents. It was shocking to me to read the coverage in this newspaper that mis-lead the reader to believe that residents support this boondoggle. There has been one half-hour meeting and another is scheduled for next week. Both are in Colfax. For those of us who work for a living, it is difficult to take time out of the middle of the work day to drive so far. But even if we did, what is the message being sent by the county government by scheduling only a half-hour for such a meeting?

Apparently, however, working stiff tenured professor Lupke did find the time to take out of his busy work day to drive home this afternoon and post this on the Daily News website at 1:19 PM (ironically, the approximate starting time of the first hearing in Colfax on Hawkins):

Lobo,

I'm still waiting for you to publicly reconcile a government handout to the Hawkins corporation with your expressed libertarian beliefs.

The good news is that after a small amount of fanfare by a couple radicals and the conservative editorial board of this paper, it now looks certain that this half-baked idea is going nowhere. It is even being vocally opposed by major, local developers, because it unfairly supports one corporate interest while ignoring local businesses in Pullman and the county who could use the subsidy too.

Of course, there are other problems with the project too.

I am assuming, of course, that Lupke, taxpayer champion that he is, drove home to post his personal political views from his own computer rather than utilizing the taxpayer-funded network and computer provided to him by WSU.

Say What? Part Three

Does anyone who attended Tuesday's Whitman County Commissioners meeting know if any of the no-growth moonbat PARDners actually showed up to comment, or are they just going to content themselves with chucking arrows from the sidelines? I guess there is no union willing to haul Hawkins Companies into court, which just makes them powerless, insignificant buzzing little gnats in this case:

If you lived in Whitman county and you knew that your tax dollars were subsidizing sprawl, you would likely feel differently about the matter.

- PARDner Chris Lupke, online comment at Moscow-Pullman Daily News website, January 22, 2008

Mr. Forbes insinuates that I am left wing and maybe even a communist, but what he fails to point out is that I have previously advocated encouraging Costco to build in Pullman. This would make a lot more retail sense to me than Wal-Mart. That being said, many people in the community actually stand to the left of me on this issue, opposing any further big box development at all. This illustrates the fact that actually I am in the mainstream not on the radical left, as Mr. Forbes’ so desperately wishes to paint me.

- PARDner Chris Lupke, online comment at Moscow-Pullman Daily News website, November 29, 2007

To that end, we should develop a regional plan for retail growth that attracts Moscow residents to Pullman not because we wish to replicate them but, as the C.L.U.E. study concludes, because we are adding new and unique “products and services not currently available within the region.”

- PARDner Chris Lupke, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, June 16, 2006

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Say What? Part Two

We don't want any of our tax money subsidizing development, retail or housing.

- PARDners Janet and Leroy Damm, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, January 21, 2008

An interesting idea that emerged from the discussion was that of a community trust that could work with groups like the Community Action Center to help families in Pullman find homes in their price range, keeping these homes in trust to ensure that when the owners decide to move, these homes remain affordable. It’s a win for the community, a win for the home owners and a win for Pullman.

- Deirdre Rogers, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, December 14, 2007

Susie Law-Godat, with the Portland Community Land Trust, discussed how the program helps provide people with home owner opportunities in the Portland-area. Through the program, people purchase their homes but the agency owns the land.

The idea, she said, is to keep the land to be used for affordable housing.

"It's a lot of bang for your buck," she said. "It's a great way to keep your subsidy in the same property."

Because the agency owns the land, the family's mortgage payments are lower. When and if a family decides to move, they often have acquired enough equity that they can purchase a home on the open market.

- "PARD forum tackles issue of affordable housing in Pullman," Moscow-Pullman Daily News, November 30, 2007

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Say What? Part One

Break out your shovels and hip waders. The PARDners are at it again, this time going after the Hawkins corridor development:

The "2006 Idaho Job Gap Report" noted that a living wage in Idaho for a family of three is $22.23 per hour. No business associated with Hawkins will ever pay that hourly wage. Again, there is no addition to the overall economy.

- PARDner Don Orlich, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, January 24, 2008

I also have been asked the question, “If Target was planning to build in Pullman would there be the same opposition?” The answer is no. I think Pullman would welcome Target with open arms.

- PARDner Leilani Alamillo, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, January 11, 2006

A Target, if of modest size and located away from Bishop Boulevard, will cause far less disruption and will actually accomplish the stated goal of super-center backers to bring people in from Moscow and even Lewiston.

- PARDner TV Reed, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, November 2, 2005

Target pays between $6.25 an hour to $8 an hour for entry-level, hourly positions in its Twin Cities stores, according to a recent survey of local Target workers by the UFCW. That's in line with what Wal-Mart pays in this market, though some starting-level Wal-Mart workers can earn $9 to $10 an hour, the UFCW said.

Both companies offer health care insurance to employees, but Target's is considered more restrictive. Two years ago, Target dropped health care insurance coverage for all part-time workers. By contrast, Wal-Mart makes its medical plan available to all workers, full- and part-time.

Union groups that have analyzed the two companies' policies maintain that Wal-Mart's also is more equitable.

All Wal-Mart's employees, from store cashiers to chief executive Lee Scott, are covered under the same medical plan. All employees can choose from the same four deductible options and receive unlimited coverage for catastrophic expenses -- such as organ transplants or cancer treatments -- that can financially ruin an employee.

Target, however, offers multiple health care plans to its employees that vary by geographic location, according to the company's employee handbook. At Target, store employees do not receive catastrophic coverage and deductible levels vary, according to former and current employees.

Wal-Mart estimates that 56 percent of its employees receive health care coverage. Target declined to disclose its percentage of insured workers, but the UFCW estimates based on surveys of Twin Cities employees that less than half the company's workers receive coverage under its plan.

- Chris Serres, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, May 22, 2005

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"Food helps Wal-Mart in Dec, while Target struggles"

Reuters is reporting today:

U.S. shoppers seeking cheap groceries boosted December sales at discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc, but a pullback in discretionary purchases by middle-income shoppers hurt holiday sales at rival Target Corp.

The sales data released on Thursday by the top U.S. discount retailers showed consumers are loading up on necessities and discounted goods, but splurging only selectively in the face of high gas prices, food inflation and a shaky housing market.

I wonder if local business "experts" Chris Lupke and TV Reed, who have predicted the "end of Wal-Mart," will have some comment on this? I don't think so either.

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"Spending without guilt"

Scott Braski of Moscow has a great response to PARDner Don Orlich's recent letter chastizing the Walton Family Foundation (i.e. the family that owns Wal-Mart) for supporting school vouchers.

Braski probably doesn't know Orlich and the PARDners as well as we do. Choice and freedom to them are things that belong in the hands of faceless government bureaucrats, not the individual.

By the way, the Walton Family Foundation's emphasis on providing tuition assistance for low-income families wanting to give their children the best possible education through attendance at a private school came from Sam Walton's son John, who died in an experimental aircraft crash in 2005.

Though he was the son of a millionaire entrepreneur, John Walton dropped out of college, enlisted in the Army, and became a member of the Special Forces. He was wounded in action and won the Silver Star for heroism in Vietnam as part of a top secret, behind the lines MACV-SOG unit, Recon Team Louisiana.

John Walton was a man who knew a thing or two about freedom and fighting for it. How dare some statist educrat question the fact Walton decided to spend some of his birthright on providing opportunity and freedom for others less fortunate.

From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

There is more to Donald C. Orlich's recent letter to the editor than meets the eye (Opinion, Dec. 14), and I have a few questions. Yes, the wonders of Pullman are due to public education. Yes, most of the students at Washington State University received a public education. No one is debating that. The question is, would it have been possible to have the Pullman public education be any better? If so, would it have been wrong for a set of parents to want a better education for their child?

If I work extra hard so that I can afford to purchase a better-than-public education for my child, should I feel guilty for wanting to invest my money in my own children? I am required to pay taxes that support public schools, even if my kids never set foot in one, so I'm not leaving the poor in the cold. Should someone else have the right to force me to educate my child a certain way?

As for Wal-Mart, Orlich believes the company doesn't have the right to invest its post-tax earnings as it wishes. At what point does one lose that right? When one becomes a certain degree of successful? The harder you work, the more skill you apply, the less control you should have over your own money? One of these omniscient philanthropy committees needs to draw an exact line somewhere, so we all know exactly how successful not to become, and how hard not to work. Is not a good definition of freedom the ability to spend your own after-tax earnings as you wish? Erode that freedom and you'll find you have none left.

Scott Braski, Moscow

What They Said - Unplugged

As an observer, I have watched PARD keep the issues focused and not personalized. No matter the outcome for a Walmart in Pullman, they have used their rights and liberties and a democratic judicial system with grace.

- "Guest" December 11, 2007, 3:49 pm

I applaud Dr. Lupke and other PARD members for their numerous letters and Op Ed pieces that have addressed issues in a manner consistent with the spirit of civil free speech.

- "Proponent of Civility," December 11, 2007, 8:34 pm

Now we'll look at comments posted on the Daily News website by the PARDners and their supporters since November 27 and see if those bold pronouncements above will bear scrutiny. I have made no effort to provide names, as the posters were too cowardly in most cases to give one. After reading these comments, you tell me what you think my response should be to Chris Lupke's demand that "I call on Mr. Forbes to stop his character assassination of long-standing members of the Pullman community, to apologize for his anti-social behavior, and learn to present his views in positive ways, regardless of what those views are, that would serve to restore dignity to the debate over Pullman’s community issues."

It seems as though Tom Forbes hates everyone who is opposed to the inevitability of a walmart in Pullman - for whatever reason - because he can't talk about them without stereotyping them as elitists. His consistent use of that word always negates his arguments to me. In his letters, he comes across like a big baby and his tantrums are tiresome. I enjoy reading about the different opinions on the subject, but these are your neighbors, Tom - whether they agree with you or not - and it's too short a life to be so mean spirited to people who seem to be trying to do what they think is right, just as you are.

I'm particularly amused by the following statement by Tom: "If you don't agree with PARD's far-left political agenda, then they attack you publicly. Any wonder that the "silent majority" chooses to remain silent". Now THAT's the pot calling the kettle black.

Another Walmart is just plain stupid. But if you have read much of what this clown Forbes has to say, you'll see that stupidity is his calling card.

Tom Forbes has to dig pretty far back into history to find a political battle in Pullman that he claims Wal-Mart won -- which is debatable anyway.

The main reason is that while he has tried to avoid becoming the subject of Forbes' vicious slander attacks on long-standing Pullmanites by not coming out vocally against the Wal-Mart invasion, he has presented hiimself as someone who is not right-wing, not simply in favor of selling out Pullman to corporate elites whom Forbes touts on a daily basis.

And the fact that Sorenson has posted onto Forbes' website, with all its vicious attacks on local residents in Pullman, did not sit well with the voters. So, pay for your recount, Al, and when it is done, please say goodbye to the residents of Pullman.

We all know that Tom Forbes has an unnatural pyschological attachment to Wally World. But what I want to know is this -

When Forbes drives over to the gigantic Wal-Mart Supercenter to spend all day every day shopping there, who the hell is going to fill the other 1038 parking spaces in Wal-Mart's gargantuan parking lot?

Tommy One-Note has an arrogant, elitist, and unnatural psychological need to hear himself drone on, and on, and on ……….

I read Lupke's letter from a few days ago and Forbes needs to look up the word "lash out" in the dictionary -- either that or see a psychiatrist. And it sounds like from what others have said that the latter is likely the best idea. Of course, for a flatheat like him, probably being a hippy would warrant a call that I should "pack up and leave" too.

Forbes' nasty habit of libeling anyone who does not want a Wal-Mart in Pullman makes it impossible for most thoughtful people to express themselves on the issue publicly. Isn't it ironic that the concept of free speech has morphed into free mudslinging as far as Tom Forbes and his cronies are concerned.

Yes, I know what you mean. This Forbes guy is about as nasty as it gets. I've never quite seen anything like him in Pullman. In fact, my display name comes from the fact that people have attacked those critical of Walmart as being "hippies." I'm not sure if this is an insult or not, but I did notice from time to time that Forbes uses this moniker on his hatesite, so it very likely was he who made that attack too.

But what I wanted to say in more detail is that I really do believe Forbes needs a pyschiatrist or something to bring him back to reality and probably some medication as well. He uses words like "lash out" and "attack" all the time. That bellicose rhetoric consistently informs what he has to say.

There's a lot of anger and violence pent up in this Forbes character and I just hope he seeks help soon -- for his own good and for ours too!

The big irony is precisely the "free speech" to which you refer. The whole point of Forbes mudslinging is to intimidate people into silence. And if they are not silent, then the next step is to try to have them run out of town.

Forbes even uses the term "comrades" to refer to people in PARD, as if they are communists. He really is psychotic if he's dredging up this kind of McCarthyistic rhetoric.

Boy, based on the comments above, it looks like PARD may speak for a lot more of Pullman than Forbes wants to admit. As one who has been the brunt of his childish name-calling, I can personally attest to the nasty demeanor of his writing. He even accused my business of engaging in unethical practices because I pointed out the errors in Wal-Mart’s original SEPA application to the City of Pullman and Washington State regulatory agencies.

Matthew Root

You really shouldn't be calling anyone "poor ignorant slobs." It's just not right and it sends a chill through our little community. But that's what Tom Forbes has been doing for years -- anyone who disagrees with him is a ... fill in the blank with your favorite disgusting insult.

I'm a PARD "fringe" person, I'll admit. That is, I went to all the meetings in the beginning when I thought we had a chance of beating Walmart. There were HUNDREDS of people at these meetings. The first one was held at a coffee shop downtown. There was not enough room for everyone. Had to be switched to the high school. The next week we met there, in the gym I think. It was packed. Then we started meeting at a church. The basement was full for weeks. It did taper off after awhile, and I confess that I was one of those who tapered off. I also don't write letters to the paper, because I don't want to be attacked by the likes of this fiend Tom Forbes. But I haven't heard any of my many friends from those initial meetings say they feel any better about Walmart now than they did then. They just feel they don't want to spend their time on this anymore and don't want to suffer the calumny of Forbes. My point: what did Walmart do? Talk to us? Interact with the community? Adjust its plans? Try to work with us or effect a compromise? No. They tried to recruit people around Pullman to serve as attack dogs on the PARD people. And that is exactly what happened. That hardened any sense of compromise I might have once had toward Walmart.

I wanted to remind people of the unfair attacks and mischaracterizations of Tom Forbes and urge people not to use those.

Well, now! I usually stay out of Pullman's business, but this week it looks like you guys have got all the fun! And with all this talk about Tom Forbes, I had to take a peek at his website. Actually, I had seen references to it on Dale's hatesite, so I thought I was prepared.

omg! Does he REALLY put Dale to shame or what? Talk about nastiness. Go no further! If it's bile you need, Forbes has got one stop shopping for you. What Forbes has to say will burn your eyebrows off.

I thought we had it bad in Moscow and was sort of envious of Pullman.

Not no more!

I would like to thank those who have posted into this site defending me against Mr. Tom Forbes’ assaults, both present and past. I am writing a letter of response which I hope the Moscow-Pullman Daily News prints promptly. For now, let me just say that Mr. Forbes has been attacking me and others in PARD for years now. He especially despises the fact that college professors and those employed by Washington State University would have the audacity to speak out against a corporate giant like Wal-Mart. For the record, I am proud to be a college teacher at WSU. It is true, as he says, that I am fluent in Chinese. It was not easy to gain this ability, but I did it through hard work, relying solely on my own funds earned in odd jobs, student loans, scholarships, and teaching assistantships over many, many arduous years. But I am not embarrassed to have gone from someone who knew nothing about China to some who is now a national expert on China and Chinese culture. I’m very proud of it and believe what I do makes a contribution to society, to our community and state, and to America. The US government is doing everything it can to encourage young Americans to learn critical languages like Chinese and Arabic, and it is a shame that someone like Mr. Forbes would try to ridicule me for that as somehow being a member of the “elite,” disconnected from reality. I find it to be very unpatriotic. I also feel that others who live in Pullman and work at WSU have a right to voice their opinions too. WSU is a great university, not an elite, exclusive country club. It is a place filled with hard-working teachers, researchers, students, and administrators. And as a result Pullman is a community made up of many of these good people. We who work or attend WSU should not feel we are second class citizens to people like Mr. Forbes, just because he does not teach there. And we should not have to endure being called “elitist” (and worse) just because we earned our degrees, have risen to the top of our respective fields, and with that expertise and those skills are now in a position to give back to our community and our state. I am proud to be associated with WSU. But even so, in Pullman, a town filled with PhDs, I consider myself an ordinary joe just like everyone else. I don’t have any place of privilege, but by virtue of the US Constitution, I also don’t have to cede my own basic right of expression to others who otherwise would wish to shut me up.

As to Wal-Mart, I will make no excuses for my opposition to it. I have been consistent in my opposition to a massive Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pullman since I first heard about it three years ago. Wal-Mart has a reputation for destroying local businesses and then picking up the pieces by hiring the workers of those failed businesses, often at lower wages and few or no benefits. This proposal will severely hurt Pullman’s whole retail environment and ultimately lead to less choice in the marketplace than shoppers currently have. Mr. Forbes insinuates that I am left wing and maybe even a communist, but what he fails to point out is that I have previously advocated encouraging Costco to build in Pullman. This would make a lot more retail sense to me than Wal-Mart. That being said, many people in the community actually stand to the left of me on this issue, opposing any further big box development at all. This illustrates the fact that actually I am in the mainstream not on the radical left, as Mr. Forbes’ so desperately wishes to paint me.

Mr. Forbes’ tactics are very clear. In the face of very poor same-store sales returns over the past several years running, Wal-Mart is encountering a crisis. Ordinary people such as myself have been waking up the past few years to the fact that Wal-Mart is a disreputable business. We don’t speak for business. We speak as part of the market. What the market is telling Wal-Mart is this: change your ways. Start acting like an ethical company. Listen to what the legion of critics are saying. Look at your business model and realize that ruthless, bottom line tactics where you cheat your employees in the United States, outsource solid manufacturing jobs to the third world where you can easily exploit factory workers, and engage in predatory business practices against small businesses should be rethought. When you do so, we will again spend our money at your stores. Until you do so, we will not.

What Mr. Forbes has done has become the local front for a corporate giant. And the tactics are to avoid talking about how wonderful Wal-Mart is, expounding on all the high-quality items that Wal-Mart sells, bragging about the wonderful jobs that Wal-Mart provides to the community or generous philanthropy that it bestows on our public schools like WSU or Pullman HS, and noting the positive impact that Wal-Mart will have on traffic in its vicinity, the environment, other businesses. Mr. Forbes cannot do that because Wal-Mart does not do those things. Instead, taking a page right out of the Wal-Mart propaganda playbook, Mr. Forbes seeks to destroy the reputations of those who have had the courage to voice their opposition to the Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed for Bishop Place. He attacks the messengers. It’s a pathetic tactic and I call on Mr. Forbes to stop his character assassination of long-standing members of the Pullman community, to apologize for his anti-social behavior, and learn to present his views in positive ways, regardless of what those views are, that would serve to restore dignity to the debate over Pullman’s community issues.

Chris Lupke

He doesn't seem to get it that, agree or disagree, the resistance to Walmart is this community is widespread. When he's attacking people who have vocally opposed Walmart, he's actually attacking a big segment of this population -- a lot of people who have not spoken up so much. Too bad he wasn't at those first meetings that I mentioned above. Had he been, he would have seen it for himself. It's not "elitist." It's grassroots.

I always use this same display name so that people know it's me. I don't want to reveal my real name because Tom Forbes not only attacks people on his nasty excuse for a website but he even pastes in pictures of them if he can find them. And the name calling. It's just shameful . . . and shameless for that matter too.

There are so many people in Pullman just dying to see Forbes shrivel up and blow away.

Forbes doesn't take the high road and isn't satisfied just crowing about Wal-Mart's many wonderful attributes for one clear reason -- there is nothing good to say about Wal-Mart. In the absence of good things one can say, turn the attack on people in the community and slander them. Maybe that will get you some headway.

Forbes' tactics are about as high quality as the crap they peddle at Wal-Mart.

More comments from Forbes in the pigsty (you said it, not me) showing how nasty and gratuitous he is. Why not put forth something positive for a change and stop the defamation? Oh, I forgot, he's advocating Wal-Mart. Nothing good to say.

I'm very impressed with the way Lupke has dealt with this. It's clear he's careful with his words. And you can see that he's basically silenced Forbes on the character issue.

I'm not going to use the term "pig" to describe Forbes because that would be to stoop to his level.

His plan is clear and I don't think he's made a secret of it. He has created a big rhetorical pigsty of name calling, defamation, character assassination, half-truths, mischaracterizations, out-of-context quotations, un-confirmed quotations, and outright lies. He has done this to hopefully drag the PARD people like Lupke into the mud with him. The motivation is what he does not admit -- that this is the only way Walmart can gain in the arena of public opinion.

I have to admit, I'm surprised that Lupke put up with this onslaught so long. But when he finally decided to take on Forbes directly, he really delivered a knock out punch . . . right back into the pigslop. That's what I mean when I say I was impressed with the way Lupke dealt with it.

Here's a question everybody will want to see Tom Forbes answer on his flogsite:

Doesn't Schweitzer Engineering, where I've been told Tom Forbes works, have a health plan that pays the majority of drug prescription costs? And wouldn't then these prescription costs be the same (and rather reasonable) at ALL pharmacies in Pullman? And, finally, how does that prescription plan compare to the one that is offered to employees of Walmart? Do Walmart employees get as good of a break as Tom Forbes does?

It's funny. It suddenly occurred to me why Tom Forbes attacks people with his personal insults and lies so much.

When you try to argue the merits of Walmart, you quickly learn your screwed.

Yes, another good Tom Forbes-ism. Now apparently I smoke pot all day. I'll have to remember that one. What crystaline logic you do apply.

This place is peaceful, in spite of the mudslinging from people like Forbes. It will go to hell in a hand basket if it becomes a big sprawl and/or a mini-Spokane. They can keep their crime, drugs and sprawl as far as I'm concerned.

Nobody believes the lame lies about working poor in Pullman. It's just another one of Forbes'/Wal-Mart's ploys. We've seen all these before.

So, spare us your lies about the working poor, Forbes/Wal-Mart, because we know you're here to suck the last drop of blood out of the veins of the working poor.

I don't see why Forbes doesn't drive people around. Doesn't he work for Schweitzer? Doesn't he have an excellent health plan through Schweitzer? What is the health plan at Schweitzer anyway? Forbes can probably afford to drive all these people around. Forbes could drive Walmart workers to the emergency room when they need health care, since most don't get it through Walmart. And he could put their health care bills on his credit card. That would be better than making the tax payer pay for their bills. Are tax burden is already heavy enough as it is.

The pro-Wal-mart crowd sure do raise some compelling arguments. Denial, ad hominem, and a claim that all faculty should apparently work 18 hours a day, leaving no time to get involved in community matters. It is sad that you think that people who work in Liberal Arts departments such as Foreign Languages and Speech and Hearing are so unworthy. Hmmmm, that logic would mean that the TF crowd does not have enough work to keep them busy. I guess everyone should just be quiet and get back to their own jobs. I sure hope the commentors above are not logging on during work -- I guess all you all must work the night shift or are self-employed.

I met Dr. Lupke once and asked him about Walmart. I don't think he opposes the existing Walmart just the new one. Forbes argument doesn't make sense to me. But why is he so wired over this? Is he being paid by Walmart?

Just follow the nasty, offensive posts and you'll find forbes! Again, it is amazing to me that this is the issue that he has decided to waste his time on! I'm sure his children will be proud one day as they look back and say, "If it wasn't for Dad I wouldn't have the opportunity to buy all this cheap crap and to work at this minimum wage job with no benefits!"

At least Mrs. Forbes had the guts to use her real name which Tom Forbes never does. I won't use my name either. Do you know why that is Mrs. Forbes, so proud of your wonderful husband and the community service he provides to Pullman? Because I don't want my face pasted on your husband's disgusting website with all sorts of lies and insults. I think he said himself not long ago that he sees his community service as pulling others into the pigstye with him. Nobody knows whether your husband is paid by Walmart or not but considering the pack of lies he spews on his website I guess with your blessing there is no reason to believe you. Yes, have you no shame is a question that many have for him. Glad to hear you are proud of that and you've programmed your kids to be too.

There are many "innocent" people in this debate, Mrs. Forbes - people who haven't attacked others, who have simply expressed their opinion on a matter that means something to them and will have a big impact on their community. Where is your compassion for those of us who have been attacked by your husband and his vile, name-calling and hypocrital writings? Or does the same law not apply to you because you believe your opinion and your husband's opinion is THE only one worth considering? I don't mind that Tom has a different opinion than mine on this issue - but he does nothing to bring the community together on this issue and therefore, all of his 'efforts' are meaningless, except, perhaps, to stroke his own ego. I would never be so crass and mean to a fellow neighbor just because I felt I had the right answer to something that affects everyone in my community. But your husband seems to revel and wallow in it. If I lived with someone like that, I would be ashamed - not of his position on the matter - but of his tactics towards my neighbors - people I didn't even know. I agree with you on this: no one's children should be brought into this discussion unless they too have participated in the discussion and expressed an opinion on the matter. Everyone knows there's going to be a walmart in Pullman - and Tom Forbes will have had no effect on that fact. Wal mart will do what they're going to do - with or without Tom Forbes - or with or without the residents of Pullman. Tom's just there to stand behind the multi-billion dollar company and stick out his tongue at his neighbors, like a 2-year-old baby.

I have been observing his fakery for quite some time myself. I don't think he would psychologically be able to restrain himself from writing in.

To Susan Forbes:

I have three sets of questions for you that I would like you to answer, not other people, if you and the others in this thread would be gracious enough to indulge.

1. On your husband’s website out there for all the world and God to see he once wrote that he would like to see the members of the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development run out of town. How do you think your children would feel if the father of a friend of theirs had publicly called for her or his parents to be run out of town? Do you think that was right? Do you think someone who said something like that has shame?

2. Your husband and his small coterie have often attacked PARD people as mainly being faculty in the College of Liberal Arts at Washington State University and that therefore they have no real conception of the world and, apparently, no right to assert their opinions in the public arena. I am told you too work in the College of Liberal Arts at Washington State University. How does it make you feel that your husband and his small coterie frequently degrade employees in this division at WSU? Do they not have a right and if not then do you have a right to make such a sanctimonious statement as that presented above? Is that not hypocritical?

3. The issue of Walmart and Pullman has been portrayed by your husband as one of members of the university community against locals. Were you and your husband born in Pullman? Have you lived here your whole lives? Are you a local or a member of the university community, the College of Liberal Arts in particularly, and if so, then why is it legitimate for you to speak up and not others who are no different from you except in the opinions they espouse?

I know what it’s like to be called names. That’s how I got this display name. I guess someone thought they were insulting me by calling me a hippy. I sort of like it. It brings me back to the Berkeley days of my youth. But he or another later accused me of taking bong hits, which I don’t do. That points to the notion that I don’t like people making unfavorable insinuations about my personal life that such people have no way of knowing. That’s call lying and its called character assassination. And that is the pigsty in which your husband resides.

It’s true. I haven’t lived in Pullman all my life, but I think I’ve lived here a lot longer than Tom Forbes if I’m not mistaken. But my kids were born here and they are bona fide locals. I would like to think that their parents could remain here with them to raise them lest Tom Forbes’s command that I be run out of town actually become a reality. As a mother, would you not agree, Mrs. Forbes?

Susan-- so you read these comments. Do you read your husband's blog? I read it for the second time a couple of days ago. The constant ad-hominem attacks against me are probably libelous. There are some ten or so posts just about me, mostly attempting to defame my character. Are you proud of that?

Are you proud of the fact that your husband spends time with Photoshop making collages of me, with my picture? Personally, I find it creepy. I've worked on political issues the whole time I've been here on the Palouse (close to 20 years) and aside from the midst of the roadless hearings, where much more was at stake than a Wal-mart, I've never seen anything like it. I know that it wasn't the way that I was raised, and if it's a model for your kids, I find that pretty sad.

I'm a big boy. But when I read constant, inciteful comments against my person, with little or no substance, I wonder about the consequences. You might think about how you might feel if one of Tom's followers commits an act of violence against myself or my family. Regardless of your intent, that's what that kind of constant ad-hominem attack leads to.

Chuck Pezeshki

Students don't rank in this town and you're partly to blame for that. But if you're actually one of the businesses that Forbes claims to represent, you'll take my money won't you.

You also assume that because I said Forbes' name I was referring to the posts. I already said I wasn't. I seriously doubt none of these are his posts, but it doesn't matter to me. I'm mainly referring to what he's already said in the paper and on his nasty website. You should admit that I clarified that. You don't.

What do I call what happened to Mrs. Forbes? What are you talking about? What happened to Mrs. Forbes? Did something happen while I was away from my computer? What I see is a wife who wants to defend her husband or some mere mention of her kids, not by me. Look at the guy's website. It's the worst piece of nasty crap imaginable. And he maligns good people in Pullman. If you can't admit that, then you have no credibility at all. And we're done talking.

So, yeah, since she posted in all high and mightly, holier than thou, but completely hypocritically, she's got alot of explaining to do. Alot of explaining to do. And because she isn't, it shows she can't. There is no good excuse for Tom Forbes except the one he's already given -- pigstye.

First, your husband is not a nice guy, he is a bit of a beast. In a letter to the editor last year he referred to Dr. Lupke as a communist, making a joke about his job as a Chinese teacher. That is below the belt. So don't cry for him, just ask him to be more civil and maybe civility will follow him.

Second, you note that he is spending a lot of time on this issue and that you are proud of him for standing up for his principles. Fine. Let's rephrase my comment: What principles is your husband standing up for other than the principle that people can buy cheap crap and other people can have minimum wage jobs? I don't see it. This is just a stupid issue to stand behind and not one that justifies the kind of angry rhetoric that your husband and most of the other folks above continue to dish out.

Mr. Forbes' defensiveness is interesting given the extent he has drug others through the mud the past couple of years. He has not hesitated to name individuals, comment on their character, call them scumbags, communists and elitists. His blog is offensive, a poor representation of the Pullman community, and an embarrassment. There are a handful of people who post on his site and they are not the voice of Pullman. If you haven't read through his writing, I'd encourage you to do so. He is not a simple libertarian with a bone against PARD.

When I read Tom Forbes' hateful letters, I feel sorry for him. People who act like he does usually have some hole in their life that they're trying to fill. I'm sure that he acts like he does because it makes him feel important and gives him attention he would otherwise not be given if he were to present his opinions on the Wal-Mart subject without all of the tantrum/name calling/in-your-face tactics of his. I would rather listen to the pro-Wal-Mart side of the story from someone who presented their opinions without having to put down their neighbors, just because they have a different opinion. But, Tom seems to really enjoy putting other people down and in today's culture, some people think that's funny. It's sad.

I'm surprised it took someone from PARD so long to respond to Forbes' unfair, ruthless, uncivil, immature attacks. As an observer, I have watched PARD keep the issues focused and not personalized. No matter the outcome for a Walmart in Pullman, they have used their rights and liberties and a democratic judicial system with grace.

It's funny that anyone would think that WalMart needed support when they push their way into towns. They don't need defending. It's the equivalent of rooting for a team when the outcome of the game is fixed. Why would someone do that, if not for their own attention? If someone wants a WalMart in their town, they should say so, but to fly to Arkansas to armor oneself with corporate propaganda - that's a little self-serving, in my opinion.

I do not use my name in my postings, however, because Tom Forbes has previously attacked me with labels and names, rather than addressing the real issues at hand, and I'm tired of it, so like a lot of others, I choose to be a coward in that I don't post my name. I certainly hope no one claims to speak for the community, as no one has been appointed by "the community" to do so. After all, what would they say..."some people want walmart and others don't?" I like to read actual 'facts' from both sides of the issue and am not afraid of changing my opinion if enough compelling evidence or a well-made, correct argument convinces me otherwise. I don't like watching my community be hammered with name calling, labels, and assumptions based on their opinion of the world's largest retailer. Who would be my real hero be in this matter? Someone who came along to bring the community together - to see what we have in common on this issue - to see what we can do to keep this an affordable community that also offers places that we really want to shop - even when we don't have as much money as others. My friends and I even have differing opinions on this matter, but it doesn't mean that we sit around calling each other names, making assumptions on each other's education or morality levels, or crossing people off our x-mas card lists because of it. Even Tom Forbes could earn my respect if he genuinely made such concessions to the people in his community that he's alienated. Unfortunately, I don't think that he has the skill, nor the respect, to do so. It will have to come from someone more thoughtful than he. Perhaps the pro walmart side needs another "spokesperson?" and everyone who has an opinion on the matter can wipe their hatred clean and try to consider the "other side's" position?

As one who has also been subjected to the vitriolic libel of Mr. Forbes, and chosen not to sink to his level of public discourse, I applaud Dr. Lupke and other PARD members for their numerous letters and Op Ed pieces that have addressed issues in a manner consistent with the spirit of civil free speech. A public rebuke of Forbes is long overdue. With that accomplished (thank you Chris), let's get back to the issues of responsible community and regional development. It's a big job for creative, knowledgeable people who are willing to step forth and debate the solutions we need to find. I sincerely hope it can be done with a reduction in rancour and a committment to positive, productive dialog.

Gee, Ms Torkelson, I'm so sorry your feelings have been hurt. At least no one has libeled your character -- which seems to be the operational mode of the Forbicites. Just think how much more constructive the past three years would have been if the Wal-Mart supporters had forsworn personal attack, stuck to the issues alone, and contributed to the effort to reduce the negative impacts of a supercenter on Bishop Blvd. Maybe by now there would have been solutions that everyone could live with.

Technorati Tags: wal-mart walmart

What They Said - In Public

As an observer, I have watched PARD keep the issues focused and not personalized. No matter the outcome for a Walmart in Pullman, they have used their rights and liberties and a democratic judicial system with grace.

- "Guest" December 11, 2007, 3:49 pm

I applaud Dr. Lupke and other PARD members for their numerous letters and Op Ed pieces that have addressed issues in a manner consistent with the spirit of civil free speech.

- "Proponent of Civility," December 11, 2007, 8:34 pm

Let's see if these comments on the Daily News website will bear scrutiny when matched up with the public statements made over the past few years by the PARDners and their supporters, shall we? If you can think of anything else, please post it in the comments, This is just what I found in about 10 minutes of searching:

"In the meantime, however, it is important to know Wal-Mart has contributed not thousands but millions to charter schools and school-voucher causes (USA Today). A community like Pullman, which is filled with state-employed teachers at all levels of the education system, should strongly oppose the building of a Wal-Mart Supercenter here for this reason alone. In our state, Wal-Mart has donated $300,000 to charter-school causes that have been rejected at the polls by Washington voters twice. Sending one's children to a private school is a personal choice, but charter schools and school vouchers weaken the public school system by diverting scarce funds away from it.

It also is revealing to examine Wal-Mart's political donations which mostly went to Republicans in the last election (www.fec.gov). In our state, Wal-Mart donated to the campaigns of Dino Rossi, George Nethercutt and Cathy McMorris, but not to those of Don Barbieri, Patty Murray, or Christine Gregoire.

Nationally, Wal-Mart contributed to Tom DeLay, Katherine Harris (former Florida Secretary of State, remember her?) and George Bush but not to John Kerry. By contrast, 99.11 percent of regionally-based Costco's political contributionswent to Democrats, including Don Barbieri. Just so you know where your consumer dollars are going."

Alicia "Al" Borm, June 4, 2005

"As for the super-size supporters, local business owners and ordinary citizens alike who would prefer to have all of the amenities of Lewiston, Spokane, or Coeur d’Alene, I’d suggest that you might stop trying to morph Pullman into another shopper’s paradise and perhaps consider moving a few miles closer down the road to be next to your favorite outlet shopping mall."

Michael Rutledge Riley, June 11, 2005

"A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a neighbor about how I had learned that trees around the Pullman Cemetery might be torn down for construction for the proposed Wal-Mart (Please refer to the blueprints with the city.)

From this accidental conversation, I have learned of several errors that the city and Wal-Mart have made regarding the assessment of this proposed site. I have learned that cemeteries can indeed be registered as historical places. I have learned that an intentional grove of trees built around a cemetery can be a
historical landscape. I have learned that there is a 400-foot boundary difference between the 190 plat mats and the current maps of Pullman. I have been reminded of the fact that Wal-Mart does not care about the integrity of community, history, and enironmentalism.

I am very concerned about pre-1900 residents who may be buried in that cemetery.

In addition to the rich heritage visible in the cemetery itself. a hidden history may lay there as well. Oftentimes, non-Euro-Americans were not afforded complete, identifiable gravestones, such as Native Americans and Chinese laborers. These early inhaitants of the Palouse nay be resting outside of the known plat boundaries. Wal-Mart has repeatedly dug up and built over existing cemeteries (Colorado, Tennessee, Texas, and Vancouver, British Columbia).

I am now painfully aware of how one of Pullman's most sacred places might be altered, destroyed and otherwise shadowed by a behemoth super cemter that is sure to wreck many visual landscapes. I am wondering how long-time citizens in Pullman feel about this? I am wondering if those folks have been informed.

How can the city not demand a comprehensive analysis of this existing cemetery by way of sonar scanning the entire original plat map boundaries?"

Marcie Gilliland, June 2005

"There is a game where a "rumor" is whispered around a circle to see how the original changes. This appears to have happened with the so-called "merchant's petition.

...I spent several hours in June presenting an impartially worded petition to a variety of business owners. I introduced myself and explained that I represented no one but myself. I had meaningful discussions with most of those who signed the petition and with several who declined. Three people emphasized their support for a Wal-mart Supercenter in Pullman, yet were willing to sign the petition because the wording was impartial, the idea a good one. The cover letter that went to the city with the petition was the idea of a particulalry thoughful signer, and includes that signer's suggestions...

In conclusion, I reiterate that this was my project as a private citizen, and that I approached everyone openly and respectfully. "

Cynthia Hosick, October 1, 2005

"Our business was recently visited by a person representing themselves as pro-business and pro-economic growth who asked me to sign a petition requesting an economic study regarding the proposed Pullman Wal-mart.

In reality this person was a representative of PARD who was gathering signatures from Pullman business people not to facilitate economic study but to use the petition as a tactic to delay or stop the Pullman Wal-Mart. The petition was further "spun" with a cover letter that was not a part of the original petition and sent to the Pullman Director of Public Works.

Looking down the list of others on the petition it appears that others were likewise duped and misrepresented.

I think that it is important to set the record straight in order to minimize confusion and to expose deceptive practices for what they are."

Jerry Griebling, September 15, 2005

"Round One: The Battle for Public Opinion is Over. PARD Has Clearly Won that Battle."

PARD Press Release, May 23, 2005

"We have public opinion on our side."

PARD Press Release, September 9, 2005

"[Sam Dial Jewelers owner Sam] Dial said a new perspective by many Pullman residents may help retain small local businesses and lure new businesses into town.

'The Pullman community really wants to see business growth,” he said. “We have a leak of retail dollars.'”

Moscow-Pullman Daily News, January 20, 2007

"If Wal-Mart has its way, say good-bye to public schools."

Chris Lupke, October 27, 2005

"A local writer by the name of Tom Forbes often mocks Hosick and Reed, as if civic debate is a game; indeed, Forbes seems quite gleeful about, "proudly annoying Pullman's left-wing intelligentsia" (a quote from his blog "Palousitics".) It would show more wisdom and maturity proudly to remember, and cleverly to apply, the splendid old traditions in these United States of the kind of civic debate that - despite differences of opinion - manages to remain both civil and factual."

Birgita Ingemanson, October 28, 2005

"Finally, Forbes seems content to allow consumerism to replace the democratic process. I doubt Forbes would be comfortable repealing child labor laws or would embrace a proposal to open a strip club, kiddie porn outlet or crack house on the logic that consumers can decide."

Richard King, October 31, 2005

"At the same time, news arrives that a store that makes much more sense for Pullman, Target, has plans to build here."

TV Reed, November 2, 2005

"The irresponsible, extremist ranting on Forbes' site gives Republicans a bad name, and makes it impossible to take BREO seriously. Leave pro-business lobbying to the Chamber of Commerce."

Ray Sacchi, November 3, 2005

"I have no special expertise nor have I received any help, training, support or funding from any such national union movement. I am not a member of a union nor is anyone in my family.

At a recent Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development meeting, I asked if anyone was – no one raised their hand."

Chris Lupke, November 16, 2005

"The documentary presented interviews with former store employees who have seen harsh working conditions. Several WSU departments presented the screening of “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” in Todd hall on Monday.

The documentary gave viewers an inside look at several controversial issues associated with the world’s largest retail company.

WSU departments of comparative ethnic studies, American studies, women’s studies, sociology and Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development (PARD) screened the film...

'It’s slavery,' said Anthony Walters, a representative of UFCW Local 1439, who answered questions after the video presentation. 'When workers are kept in the workplace, forced to pay rent and utility fees that exceed their wages, it is slavery.'”

Daily Evergreen, November 16, 2005

"In a recent letter, local Wal-Mart promoter Tom Forbes attacked respected Moscow businessman Gerard Connelly (owner of Tri-State) for suggesting that the 5,000 lawsuits Wal-Mart faces might indicate some problems with the corporation. Forbes’ weak defense of Wal-Mart is that it is a big company and therefore a big target. In fact, Wal- Mart’s lawsuits are far out of proportion to their size. More important, Forbes seems to imply that these lawsuits must be frivolous. Out of so many, a few surely are. But what Forbes doesn’t tell us is that in a great many of these suits brought by, among others, the U.S. government and several state governments, Wal-Mart has been found guilty as charged.

A few of the huge number of possible examples from this year alone: In February Wal-Mart settled with the federal government for 85 violations of US child labor laws in three states; last week Wal-Mart was fined $115 million for denying lunch breaks to employees in one state (with similar cases pending in 40 others); three weeks ago Wal-Mart generated a new lawsuit when it was caught again using illegal
immigrants in Pennsylvania (this in the wake of a leaked memo making clear such
actions are corporate policy, not isolated acts).

Why aren’t folks like Forbes outraged at this corporate immorality? Why do they defend in corporations what they would never defend in individual behavior? Forbes also attacked Connelly’s motives, suggesting that this merchant who has donated so much time and money to local community projects, was speaking solely out of economic self- interest. I believe he was speaking out of community interest. We as consumers need to send a message to Wal-Mart CEO’s that if they want our business they must treat their workers fairly, that until
they do they are not welcome in our towns."

TV Reed, December 31, 2005

“I understand the council’s concern about big-box stores, but Moscow doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Pullman is welcoming big-box business and that’s a bigger threat to Moscow.”

Gerard Connelly, February 8, 2006

"I also have been asked the question, 'If Target was planning to build in Pullman would there be the same opposition?' The answer is no. I think Pullman would welcome Target with open arms. Wal-Mart cannot be compared to any other company. Because of its size and power, it is in a class of its own."

Leilani Alamillo, January 11, 2006

"I see that April Coggins wants it both ways. She wants on-street parking in front of her business and a Wal-Mart Supercenter larger than all retail space in the downtown area."

Janet Damm, January 12, 2006

"University of Idaho criminologist Deirdre Sommerlad-Rogers testified about studies showing Wal-Mart attracts crime and therefore puts a drain on local police services. She pointed to the example of a Wal-Mart store in Lodi, Calif., that took up four times as much police time as other retail stores because of shoplifting and the high number of car thefts in the parking
lot."

Moscow-Pullman Daily News, January 14, 2006

"Concerns also have been raised about noise and light pollution, including a much-discussed claim by Washington State University Professor James Krueger on Jan. 13 that light pollution could cause Pullman men to become impotent. He based the claim on research involving deer."

Moscow-Pullman Daily News, January 21, 2006

"One side uses moral compassion to emphasize child safety in the streets, employee exploitation, generation of city blight, failed businesses, pollution, and the desecration of cemetery solitude that the proposed Wal-Mart will bring.

The arguments from the opposing side encompass property rights and an apparent new constitutional right to shop in disregard of community and responsibility to one’s fellow man."

James Krueger, January 23, 2006

"I recently went on a group trip with others from Pullman whom I had never met and, in getting to know each other, we chatted about various local issues. Eventually the subject of the Wal-Mart boondoggle came up. Nobody favored it. I mentioned that I was involved with the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development. 'You are heroes,' one person said. As flattering as that may be, I must say fighting Wal-Mart is not a pleasure but a moral imperative.

One of the most important reasons is precisely cost: there is a wasteland of local blight where Wal-Mart has laced the countryside with super centers. Wal-Mart has the bad taste to bulldoze right up to the border of an otherwise tranquil and hallowed cemetery. They could not care less about school kids who play and the elderly who live nearby their retail colossus."

Chris Lupke, April 3, 2006

"Tom Forbes now claims to have found PARD’s 'union label,' but his logic is faulty."

Peggy Jenkins, April 5, 2006

"Tom 'Joe McCarthy' Forbes is at it again. Over the last few months, Forbes has called Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development members 'Stalinists,' 'communists,' terrorists, and fascists, among other things, and stated that we should be “run out of town” (this directed at a group most of whose board members have lived here 10, 20 or 30 years longer than he has).

Now Forbes has come up with what I guess is to him an equally awful term, union-supported. He has “accused” PARD of being funded by the United Food and Commercial Workers, one of many worker organizations fighting Wal-Mart nationally.

Well, once again you are dead wrong, Tom. PARD has not received a single penny of support from the UFCW.

Where have we gotten our funding? That’s none of your business, but you might ask each of the now more than 10,000 folks who live or shop in Pullman who have signed the PARD petition against Wal- Mart. (By the way, those of you signers who haven’t yet – and you know who you are – might want to send some greenbacks our way right now, since the one thing Forbes got right is that fighting Wal-Mart is expensive).

But let’s address the implications of Forbes’ McCarthyite question: Are you now or have you ever been supported by a union? I’d be proud to have union support.

My dad was a union man for 40 years and without his union pension my mom couldn’t survive economically."

T.V Reed, April 14, 2006

"Wal-Mart and its surrogates have tried to pit Pullman and Moscow against each other in a 'divide and conquer strategy' arguing a dollar spent in Pullman would have the 'added benefit' of not going to Moscow. That destructive scheme conceals the ultimate reason why many people come to live here in the first place and, indeed, why these two towns have flourished side by side for a century."

Chris Lupke, June 16,2006

"It looks a lot like the proposed Wal-Mart on Bishop is driving city priorities more than meeting the needs of all residents.

Now, to correct the fuzzy math of Don Pelton (Opinion, July 21) who, in his continued attempt to sell our community on the unwanted Wal-Mart, says that rival Costco (which pays the kind of decent wages Wal-Mart does not) would never come to Pullman because our residents don’t make enough money.

How does Pelton explain, then, that Costco already located in Clarkston, a town with a lower per-capita income than Pullman’s? And anyone who has ever been to the store in Clarkston knows his claim that it appeals mostly to affluent customers is just plain silly."

Janet Damm, June 25, 2006

"Reed didn’t have the figure for PARD’s appeal costs immediately available but denied rumors circulating among Wal-Mart proponents that PARD is being supported by labor unions with an anti-Wal-Mart agenda.

'The people doing the real work here are long-term residents,' Reed said.

Even if the group was taking outside money, Reed doesn’t see anything wrong with that.

'We have a right to use national resources,' Reed said. 'I think the people of Pullman would love to have support from wherever they can get it.'"

Moscow-Pullman Daily News, June 27, 2006

"The serenity of the cemetery was a big part of the effect on her. Doesn’t it bother the Wal-Mart supporters that this will be gone? Isn’t it disrespectful to treat our deceased neighbors and soldiers this way? I can’t imagine grieving over a loved one next to traffic and bright lights.

Destroying the serenity of the cemetery with a Wal-Mart is bad enough. The disrespect it shows our war dead is appalling.

If you have a “support our troops” ribbon on your vehicle, and want the giant Wal-Mart next to the cemetery, please take it off. Better yet, reconsider your support of a Wal-Mart next to the cemetery. Show some respect. We can put it someplace else, like Mars."

Kelly Turk, July 29, 2006

"In the Daily News, however, even this page has become the venue for partisan posturing, at least in its reporting on Pullman affairs. Your beat writer consistently describes anything to do with Wal-Mart or with development in general as positive, as progress (see the huge celebratory Weekend headline “BOOMTOWN” a week ago). In her hands, the Wal-Mart disciple from your “Town Crier” becomes a caped crusader, courageously combatting the powers of darkness and obstruction. Those who resist the coming of this super center, on the other hand, are routinely tarred as nuisances, as obstacles to Pullman’s grand march toward saturated development. I personally know fewer than five people in Pullman who want Wal-Mart to come, and a great many more who do not. The store in Moscow is quite sufficient. Your Wal-Mart surrogate does not speak for me, nor, I dare say, for the overwhelming majority of voters and homeowners in Pullman. Now he’s stumping for Initiative 933, a brazen giveaway to developers and large landowners. Why should he and his fringe positions receive such privileged coverage in your pages?"

Michael Hanly, October 5, 2006

"Wal-Mart is clearly a communist front organization that pays its workers so poorly, gives them such lousy benefits, and tries hard to make sure they quit before they get much advancement, in a transparent attempt to stir up class agitation in America. Pullman must fight to keep this creeping communism out of our town. The true Wal-Mart is the Chinese Wal-Mart with unions and communist party offices. We need to support living-wage laws, moderate unions and other reforms to keep these Wal-Mart communists from succeeding with their dastardly plan to impoverish U.S. workers into revolution!"

TV Reed, October 28, 2006

"Pelton claims that PARD 'supporters have compared Wal-Mart and its customers to slumming.”'In addition to making no grammatical sense, this is wrong. It is based on one much-misquoted comment that Wal-Mart parking lots attract 'undesirable elements' (drug dealers, rapists, etc.) based on Wal-Mart’s research. If Don wants to defend such folks, fine, but don’t confuse them with customers."

Deirdre Rogers, October 27, 2006

"Reed said the city has McAloon on retainer, and appealing at the different court levels does not put a financial strain on the city.

'The issue over attorney fees is just another way to take the focus off the threat Wal-Mart poses,' Reed said...

'We still have lots of support and 10,000 people have signed our petition against Wal-Mart,' Reed said. 'We feel we have a strong case and wouldn’t proceed if we didn’t.'

Reed said PARD has not received any outside money from labor unions or interest groups. He said the community rose up in opposition to Wal-Mart and it is the outside force that is trying to disrupt the community’s economy.

Moscow-Pullman Daily News, November 28, 2006

Throughout the litigation process, PARD has maintained there is not a significant cost to the city as the organization fights the city’s approval of Wal-Mart’s environmental checklist.

Woo and Sherman disagreed, saying there has been a direct cost to Pullman.

Reed said earlier this week that city attorney Laura McAloon is on retainer, which Sherman and Woo confirmed.

The retainer fee — $7,000 a month — covers McAloon’s professional guidance at City Council meetings, and she answers legal questions that arise for elected officials and city staff.

McAloon is paid for 46 hours a month, according to her contract. Any further service, such as litigation, is charged separately.

The city has paid $25,302 toward legal fees related to the proposed super center thus far.

Moscow-Pullman Daily News, December 2, 2006

"Blaming the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development for causing the city attorney fees to soar is like blaming the chickens when the fox enters the hen house."

Joan Harris, December 4, 2006

"His lack of concern for most retail business is interesting. While I agree that the bike shop and Sam Dial should not have major competition from Wal-Mart, this is based on the fact that both establishments sell quality goods, while Wal-Mart sells junk."

Jeffrey P. Joswig-Jones, December 28, 2006

"Bringing other businesses? The Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development has in fact contacted a number of other companies about coming to Pullman. To cite one example, we were privy to talks about the Cordova with a developer who specializes in renovating historic theaters and building shops in the surrounding area, when the city precipitously approved a weaker plan. PARD has no objections to churches downtown, but the empty space around the Cordova attests to the loss of a better business opportunity...

Dictating where to shop? Burma seems to have forgotten there is a Wal-Mart seven miles away. If she has trouble getting there, I’d be happy to do the neighborly thing and take her. She has a right to shop for shoddy sweatshop-made goods if she wishes."

TV Reed, January 1, 2007

"Allowing Wal-Mart to intrude on the cemetery will be gross, shameful and monstrous."

David Flaherty, February 7, 2007

"Forbes’s tactic is smearing opponents while skirting the issues....Similarly, Forbes suggests that organizations supported by labor unions cannot represent grass-roots opinion. But no one opposing Wal-Mart here in Pullman is funded by, or to my knowledge even a member of, a union. We support our local businesses and quality of small-town life by questioning the low wages and lack of benefits that Wal-Mart imposes. This has everything to do with exercising our democratic right to protect our community and nothing to do with personal ego."

Anesa Miller, February 21, 2007

"As usual, with no real arguments to offer, Tom Forbes goes after the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development with name-calling rather than logic: 'Arrogant,' 'elitist academics,' 'self-important know-it-alls' - gee Tom, sounds like you are the one 'throwing a tantrum'...

More than 10,000 folks signed PARD's petition against Wal-Mart, including more than 6,000 Pullman residents and 4,000 others who shop here. That is six times more people than the total of all voters in most Pullman city elections. When Forbes speaks of a 'tiny' group he must be thinking of his own followers, who have yet to gather even 30 signatures on a petition they are circulating on another issue."

TV Reed, July 28, 2007

"The small number of people who repeatedly write in support of Wal-Mart in Pullman are the same minority who support sprawl that stretches the length of the Moscow-Pullman Highway, feel that we should stay the course in the war in Iraq for an interminable number of years, and consider global warming a myth invented by liberal academics."

Shuxin Zhao Lupke, August 2, 2007

"Forbes' contention that the opposition is based on class warfare and elitism is as ridiculous as the argument that development shouldn't occur next to the cemetery."

Mike O'Neil, August 23, 2007

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Target Roundup

All these malcontents, as I call them, I’m beginning to think of them as elitist. I don’t think they speak for the average person. The local people say, "We want them."

- Dr. Kenneth Stone, author of studies on the effects of Wal-Mart Supercenters on Iowa and Mississippi counties, on Wal-Mart opponents

The front page of Monday's The Wall Street Journal reported that Wal-Mart, with profit margins still good but down, is encountering politically muscular resistance in its latest push into Northeastern urban centers. It quoted Mayor Thomas Merino of Boston as saying, "Wal-Mart does not suit the clientele we have in the city of Boston. They don't pay wages that are sufficient. Their benefit structure is poor. I don't need employers like that in our city."

That was as thoroughly arrogant and snobbish as any public pronouncement I've encountered since Barbara Bush last spoke. The mayor was presuming to speak for low-income people in his constituency. He was presuming to declare them not interested either in Wal-Mart's discounted staples or its jobs.

Then the article reported that the mayor was actively courting Target, which is Wal-Mart with a varnished veneer, and which has come under similar criticism for its wage and benefit structure.

That's pure snobbery against Wal-Mart...This Wal-Mart backlash may have lashed back entirely too far.

- Longtime Wal-Mart critic John Brummett

In contrast to this image, however, critics say that in terms of wages and benefits, working conditions, sweatshop-style foreign suppliers, and effects on local retail communities, big box Target stores are very much like Wal-Mart, just in a prettier package.

- Kari Lydersen, "Target: Wal-Mart Lite"

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That's the Pullman Way

Malone: And then what are you prepared to do? If you open the can on these worms you must be prepared to go all the way. Because they're not gonna give up the fight, until one of you is dead.

Ness: I want to get Capone! I don't know how to do it.

Malone: You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way! And that's how you get Capone.

- The Untouchables, 1987

If you recall, a few months back, Businesses & Residents for Economic Opportunity received an unsolicited petition supporting a Wal-Mart Supercenter from a group of seniors who live in the Pioneer Square Apartments in downtown Pullman. BREO issued a press release, which was shamefully ignored by both the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and the the Daily Evergreen (even though every PARD press release gets front page coverage.)

One of the ladies that signed that petition, Samantha Petri, apparently wanted to make her voice heard even if the newspapers wouldn't cover the story. So she bravely wrote a letter to the editor that was published Friday in the Daily News.

Predictably, the crazed anti-Wal-Mart cockroaches have scurried out to attack Petri with dastardly anonymous comments posted on the Daily News website.

I have just been reading the unprecedented libelous and defamatory online comments posted in response to my letter that ran in the Daily News last Tuesday. In my letter, I defended Dale Hammerly, the owner of the Pullman RadioShack, against PARDner Chris Lupke's arrogant berating. I couldn't care less if the moonbats come after me. I was much more concerned whether Adrian Peterson would start today for my struggling fantasy football team (he did and already has 116 yards rushing and 2 TDs at the time of this writing!)

First of all, the PARDners' comments crack me up. There is nothing more humorous than seeing a bunch of overeducated poltroons shadow box with someone who was two thousand miles away and not even aware of what they were posting. Apparently, I am some sort of all-purpose boogeyman, the evil Lord Waldemart, hiding in the shadows behind every pro-Wal-Mart sentiment, every comment in favor of free enterprise and liberty, and every nefarious corporate conspiracy. I'm flattered!

Secondly, these comments have allowed Palouse residents to see these PhDs, these "heroes" act like a bunch of third grade schoolyard toughs and to truly realize the depth of the cancerous hatred these people feel towards Wal-Mart and the people that shop there and to see what big cowards they really are. Agree with me or not, at least I have the cojones to have taken a very public stance on a very controversial issue USING MY REAL NAME and thus subjecting myself (and my family) to all these tirades.

And lastly, in the military, this is what is known as bomb damage assessment. To have stirred up such a nest of angry hornets, my latest letter to the editor must have hit PARD where it did the most damage. This is extremely rewarding and energizing. It is confirmation that I am on target and doing the right thing. Every PARD sobriquet is a badge of honor to me. My worst fear is to be completely ignored and irrelevant.

However, I will not stand idly by while the PC Gestapo harrasses college kids for exercising their First Amendment rights. And I'm not going to tolerate a libtard professor insulting a respected local businessman. But where I really draw the line is when craven scumbags hide behind internet aliases to hurl insults at a defenseless elderly lady. I have never stated that people who oppose Wal-Mart or exercise their free speech rights should be "run out of town." But I would be more than happy to escort outside city limits someone who hates something so much that he would stoop to the level of a nameless and faceless online mugging of an old woman.

That is why I will NEVER quit, nor will I EVER "apologize" for telling the truth and identifying these people for who they really are. I will NEVER give up this fight, not as long as there are people like Ms. Petri and other seniors, struggling college students, young couples with children, single mothers, immigrant and blue collar families, and all the common everyday working class heroes of Pullman who don't have the luxury of a tenured professorship to allow them to be political when choosing a place to shop for the essentials in their lives.

As to Lupke, the one PARDner who has had the guts to post on the Daily News website using his real name, I have another quote from The Untouchables:

One more thing, you have an all out prize fight, you wait until the fight is over, one guy is left standing. And that's how you know who won.

December 19 is rapidly approaching. Let's see who is left standing after that, Lu Laoshi.

From Friday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Some seniors want Wal-Mart

As a senior citizen living in Pullman and loving it, I and many of my friends are waiting for Wal-Mart. Many of us have no personal transportation (we use Dial-A-Ride, which is a lifesaver) so "one-stop shopping" would be a blessing for us. If we use Dial-A-Ride to go to several different places to get things, it is a real hassle and gets expensive. To have everything in one place would be a dream come true. The newly remodeled Safeway is very nice but things are very expensive there.

I have lived in places with Wal-Mart Superceners as well as Sam's Club and it really gives you a sense of free enterprise in that competition keeps prices down and more variety is available.

These ridiculous delays and appeals by the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development are a ploy to make Wal-Mart go somewhere else, which I hope won't happen. The PARD people don't need the advantages the rest of us need as I'm sure they can drive anywhere they desire to shop. It's costing tax money to have all these hearings.

Pullman needs more tax base. People, don't be so selfish! Moscow has benefited from our isolationism and progress will come to Pullman one way or another - it's not a bad thing.

Samantha Petri, Pullman

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