Perception Becomes Reality

The Perception:

With the denial of a rezone that would have brought a Wal-Mart Supercenter to Moscow and the institution of the Large Retail Establishment Ordinance — aka the big-box ordinance — in February, some people say there is a perception Moscow isn’t welcome to new business, or is too selective on what it allows.

Some are concerned that Moscow will lose its status as “retail base of the Palouse” to Whitman County, while others say they are just trying to protect the Moscow they know and love.

- "Chilly climate for commerce?", Moscow-Pullman Daily News, December 19, 2006

The Reality:

From last Saturday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Home Depot puts brakes on Moscow store

The Home Depot won't be locating in Moscow anytime soon.

The national home-improvement and garden retail outlet had been working toward an agreement to build a store behind the Palouse Mall in Moscow, but corporate officials have decided to take a step back, said Gerard Billington, real estate officer for the University of Idaho.

"We had been working with Home Depot vigorously and we thought we had an agreement, but they declined," Billington said. "They didn't think the deal worked out for them.

"They were crunching numbers, looking at site numbers, site prep costs, land costs, development costs and potential revenue from sales in smaller markets."

The University of Idaho owns the 600-acre piece of land where Home Depot was looking to build, and any deal between the UI and Home Depot would have been a ground lease.

Billington said as far as he knows, the fact that Lowe's - a national home improvement store planning to locate in a proposed retail development in Whitman County - could be coming to the area had nothing to do with Home Depot's hesitation.

"I'm sure Lowe's would impact a future Home Depot and Home Depot would impact a future Lowe's, but I don't know that it was a decision point," he said.

UI officials have had a couple conversations with Home Depot since last fall in an attempt to work out an agreement, but no commitment has been made.

"They wanted to take another look at the agreement," Billington said.

He said he hasn't heard anything from Home Depot since the UI's last conversation with company officials in December.

"Home Depot continues to review and monitor the market and trade area for a site that will work for us and serve the community well," Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said. "To date, an economical solution has not been found. However, we are constantly turning over new ideas, leads and solutions."

This is "Selective?"

In August 2007, Queen Nancy proclaimed that "Selective growth means knowing what type of growth is right for Moscow and encouraging it."

Chaney stated that having the focus of development "on the automobile, the strip development with shoulder-to-shoulder big-boxes would encourage homogeneity in the community" and that Moscow needed to maintain its "artsy, quirky edge."

Enter Shari's Restaurant.

According to Saturday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News, a Shari's Restaurant will open off Pullman Road on the west side of Moscow near Applebee's. The 5,000 square-foot will seat 180-185 people and be open 24/7.

What? So you mean that Shari's, on the far-edge of town away from any housing is NOT "automobile development" and NOT "shoulder-to-shoulder" with big-box Wal-Mart a few yards away?

What about sustainability? Where do you think the "half a million cups of coffee, cracks a quarter million eggs, fries over five miles of sausage links and toasts nearly 150,000 pieces of bread" that according to the article the average Shari's serves every year will come from? How many truck trips do you think that will generate? How much gas will be used to ship in those supplies and how much carbon emissions will be generated?

What about "homogeneity?" Shari's already has 98 other stores in six states. In what way does a chain restuarant maintain Moscow's "artsy, quirky edge?"

Don't even get me started on "living wages." I've worked retail and I've worked the early shift at a Shari's type restaurant washing dishes. Restaurant work is worse.

And let's not forget Mayor Moonbat's mantra: water.

According to the Idaho Department of Water Resources Restaurants with bar/lounge, toilet facilities use 9-12 gallons per day per patron. The Southwest Florida Water Management District estimates that resturants use use an average of 5,800 gallons per day (GPD) of water, half of that in the kitchen area (ice machines, dishwasher, etc.) That adds up to a whopping 2,111,700 gallons a year!

Of course, all this folderol about sprawl, homogeneity, sustainability and water ise silly. And I could care less about the hypocrisy of what Chaney states she wants and what is actually allowed to happen in Moscow. BUT THESE SAME ARGUMENTS ARE BEING USED BY MOSCOW TO STOP THE HAWKINS DEVELOPMENT IN WHITMAN COUNTY, JUST A FEW HUNDRED FEET AWAY FROM SHARI'S!!

Darrell Keim, executive director of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce, was quoted in the paper as saying, "I'm excited to see the growth of business at the Warbonnet Plaza. Regardless of what happens with the Hawkins development we'll see growth in that part of town ... it seems to be the natural spot."

Of course it is. Hopefully, the new Moscow City Council will recognize this, drop their water rights transfer appeals and extend utility service to the Hawkins development.

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!!!!

Quote of the Day

[Financial consultant for D.A. Davidson and Co., Jeremy] Nesset asked how Keim would lead the chamber if a business such as Wal-Mart wanted to come in and chamber membership was split in opinion.

- "Keim outlines direction for Moscow Chamber of Commerce," Moscow-Pullman Daily News, November 16, 2007

NEWSFLASH: WAL-MART HAS BEEN IN MOSCOW FOR 15 YEARS!!!

The real question should have been, "What would the chamber's reaction be if a chamber member such as Wal-Mart, or Tri-State, or James Toyota wanted to relocate and/or expand its current facilities?" Oh brother.

No wonder new Moscow Chamber of Commerce executive director Darrell Keim was quoted as "It's been an interesting year at the chamber." It's like being in charge of the East Berlin Chamber of Commerce.

Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain

Kudos to the Daily Evergreen editorial staff for using their intellect to question what they refer to as "banalities" surrounding the Cougar Green Fund in today's issue. The staff want a "more concrete plan" to go with the "sustainability, environmentalism and reusability buzzwords."

Good luck with that.

Left wing causes such as social justice and environmentalism have become the new religion. People mindlessly parrot phrases they have heard in the media or in the classroom without having one iota of a clue what they really mean.

Once, man turned inward and sought comfort in spirituality. But now that the New York Times has officially proclaimed God as being dead, people have turned outwards to seek meaning and validation in their lives. Instead of perfecting themselves, they now try to perfect others. The perfect religion for the Age of Narcissism. People pontificate about the causes of the day, be it sweatshops, sustainability, Darfur, global warming, etc., telling us how we need to change to assuage the pangs of guilt they feel for their affluence and safe, sheltered, comfortable suburban existence. And then they go right back to living their selfish, self-involved lives. Nothing ever changes. As Michael has said many times before, when self-proclaimed "environmentalists" start taking these issues seriously, so will I.

Gee, No One Invited Whitman County?

There was a story in yesterday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News about the Moscow Congress, which is part of the process of rewriting the city’s comprehensive plan. Shockingly, no Whitman County residents participated.

I guarantee you that if there were any such gathering in Whitman County, Moscow residents would demand to attend. In fact, some quotes from the story demonstrated that attitude:

“We can’t talk about land use without including Pullman,” Moscow resident Bill McLaughlin said.

“We need to focus on the region when we think about economic development. The changing of the character is affected by what both communities do.”

No thanks, Bill. As it is, in today's Daily News, Mayor Moonbat, in discussing Moscow's new "sustainability" intern, said:

"Sustainability doesn't stop at jurisdictional boundaries; it exists within an ecosystem or a region."

"Sustainability" may not stop at the border, but your kingdowm does, Queen.

I may have been wrong about Bill Parks, however:

Moscow resident and Northwest River Supplies owner Bill Parks said the opposite of sprawl is “extremely high prices for housing.”

“Smart growth means high prices,” he said.

Absolutely true. And some Moscow residents do get it:

Moscow resident Laura Taylor said Moscow needs to make it easier for businesses to locate without putting a bunch of conditions on development.

“Both (Whitman and Latah) counties are starved for tax dollars,” she said. “We don’t have the option to manage growth that is going to occur outside of our boundaries.”

Here's What Sustainable Growth is Really All About

This is why I supported Michael Largent for County Commissioner last year. From a story in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News titled "Whitman County's deficit is decreasing":

Largent said playing the touch-and-go budget game is no way to run a sustainable local government. To remedy its current situation, the county is trying to broaden its tax base. It is working with Boise-based Hawkins Companies to construct a new retail center in the Pullman-Moscow corridor and providing support for a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pullman to increase sales tax revenue. It's also trying to open up the county to residential growth.

"If we can get more people to move here, our businesses can provide them with products and services," Largent said. "And that's good for the long run."

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Moonbats Without Borders

And we think we have it bad with Nancy Chaney stepping over the border to dictate to Whitman County what kind of "sustainable development" we can have. From Fox News:

Environmental activists use the term “sustainable development” to convey the notion that they’re not merely knee-jerk anti-business zealots and that they are all in favor of eco-friendly economic development.

That term is put to the test in a new documentary entitled “Mine Your Own Business.”

Made by Phelim McAleer, a former Financial Times correspondent, and wife Ann McElhinney, a fellow at the nonprofit Moving Pictures Institute, the film spotlights the efforts of environmentalists to block economic development projects in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America.

The film starts out in the remote and desolate Romanian village of Rosia Montana, home to a most eco-unfriendly state-run mine. Gabriel Resources, a Canadian Mining Company, is trying to open a new gold mine that meets or exceeds strict European Union standards, but it runs into opposition, not from local villagers, but from first-world non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Greenpeace.

The NGOs, who don’t seem particularly bothered by the poorly-operated state-owned mine, take the position in the film that the poverty-stricken residents of Rosia Montana don’t need any economic opportunity and, instead, are willing to settle for being “poor but happy.”

The film then moves to Madagascar where another development project is opposed by the World Wildlife Fund. In an interview that must be seen to be believed, the WWF spokesman defends his opposition to the project by noting that it would only bring stress to the lives of the local population. According to the WWF spokesman, the locals would rather sit around and smile than be burdened with economic progress, or in the alternative, would simply fritter their newfound wealth away on first-world decadence like beer, stereos and jeans.

The film winds up in Chile where NGO activists point to local opposition to a proposed mining project. But “Mine Your Own Business” exposes this local opposition as nothing more than nearby landowners who don’t want to lose their employees to the higher-paying jobs created by the mining company.

The power of the movie’s message is such that Greenpeace tried to block its Washington, DC premiere by pressuring the National Geographic Society to deny the Motion Picture Institute use of the Society’s movie auditorium.

Environmentalists have criticized the movie as being a propaganda film funded by Gabriel Resources. But while the idea to do a movie about sustainable development was the brainchild of Gabriel Resources CEO Alan Hill, filmmakers McAleer and McElhinney only agreed to do the movie if the company had no editorial control over the film.

If anything, “Mine Your Own Business” only scratches the surface of the problem; the film depicts but a microcosm of the tyranny exercised by NGOs over the developing world.

NGOs, for example, have recently acquired the ability to veto third-world development through their influence over first-world banks.

Many banks have signed on to the environmentalist-promoted Equator Principles, which ostensibly are guidelines to ensure that third-world development projects occur in an “eco-friendly” manner. In practice, however, the Equator Principles, serve more as a means for NGOs to stop most economic development projects.

Banking giant Citigroup, for example, has implemented the Equator Principles, much to the detriment of the developing world. According to a 2005 Citigroup report, the bank denied financing to 54 of the 74 projects reviewed according to the Equator Principles – projects worth as much as $75 billion in financing and that are economically sound.

Not only do the Equator Principles deny first-world funding to developing nations, they also drive desperately poor nations to seek financing from alternative (and less desirable) sources like China – which is not known to apply first-world environmental standards to the projects it finances.

In another example, NGOs stopped what would have been the largest-ever sustainable forestry project in Tierra del Fuego, Chile. The Washington state-based timber company Trillium Corporation purchased 800,000 acres in Chile and Argentina in 1993. Although Trillium could have clear-cut the forest at the time, it instead tried to work with NGOs to develop its sustainable forestry project of which it was rightfully proud.

The NGOs spent the next nine years blocking the project. One of Trillium’s key lenders fell into financial difficulty and had to auction the loans that were secured by Trillium’s land, allowing Goldman Sachs to swoop in and buy the notes, foreclose Trillium’s mortgage and then donate the land to the Wildlife Conservation Society – a controversial use of shareholder assets that has been criticized by myself and others.

Needless to say, the Tierra del Fuego land won’t be developed, Chileans won’t be employed and the world was deprived of a much needed example of the ever-elusive “sustainable development.”

Though I have looked, I have yet to find a significant development project anywhere in the world that environmentalists and their NGO allies support as “sustainable.” “Mine Your Own Business” is a terrific effort at documenting that fact.

Just as Mayor Moonbat will never find a development project in Whitman County that she supports as "sustainable."