Nathan Alford takes position against 2 Super WalMarts
While urging we not polarize on a few issues when we can cooperate on many, Nathan notes that WalMart won’t be good for his business, because it won’t be good for the local businesses that support him.
COMMENTARY: Let’s maintain our comunity perspective on Wal-Mart debate
By Nathan Alford
Published: 06-03-2006
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Alford
Wal-Mart issues continue to brew in our communities. You haven’t seen an editorial on our opinion page taking a strong stance one way or the other. There’s a reason for that.
Our four-person editorial board doesn’t agree. Like many in our communities, we are evenly divided; some favoring Wal-Mart and others favoring restrictions to varying degrees.
Without consensus or middle ground, a Daily News editorial stance is unlikely. Every editorial published on the opinion page is the by-product of the collaborative editorial board process. If we don’t agree, we don’t write it.
I admit, I’m holding up the editorial process on the Wal-Mart issue. It’s not the first time.
We also differ on issues relating to gay rights, abortion and capital punishment. That’s to be expected on hot-button issues. Wal-Mart is no exception.
I sit precariously perched on the figurative fence with my back toward the pro-Super Wal-Mart camp, my two feet kicking about, poised and ready to leap into the camp favoring across the board big box restrictions.
I’m open about my personal and professional conflicts with the board and now you.
Two Super Wal-Marts in Pullman and Moscow would have a negative net effect on our community newspaper. That’s proven to be the case in smaller communities across the country.
Why?
Two mega Wal-Marts will challenge a large number of smaller businesses in our communities. In turn, the advertising dollars for small business owners, truly providing some of the First Amendment fuel for community newspapers, will shrink.
The result?
Economic hardship for small business and indirectly the community newspaper. Newspapers in Wal-Mart-dominated markets take a hit when it comes to town. Declining advertising dollars means newsrooms often have to cut staff. It’s the number of people working in a newsroom that defines the depth and character of a newspaper.
What does that mean to you, the reader? Potentially, less local reporting and fewer eyes and ears on the streets.
This effect on small market newspapers is an often overlooked secondary effect of the retail giant’s market domination.
That’s the professional conflict of interest.
My personal conflict is based on Wal-Mart’s arguable unfair labor practices, minimal benefits, the potential damage to the intimacy and character of the local business community, and Wal-Mart’s unprecedented and dominant control over suppliers.
Those issues have been well-debated on our opinion page and in coffee shops across the region.
I’m sympathetic to concerns about personal property rights. I also appreciate and respect the laissez faire notion of capitalism and local tax benefits, especially in Pullman.
Our local policy makers are charged with the task of balancing these competing interests, and whether or not a Wal-Mart Supercenter or other comparable big box stores are the right fit for our community. Dark store provisions, square footage caps and zoning restrictions, among others, are the tools at their disposal.
Regardless of the outcome, our communities and newspaper will adapt and thrive. I don’t fall in the doom and gloom camp. I’m confident most of our local businesses - the Daily News included - will get by. We’ll simply have to adapt. Change is an inevitable part of business and growing communities. I accept that.
That doesn’t mean I won’t be disappointed if both of the proposed Super Wal-Marts become reality. And I won’t be surprised if we realize what I predict will be an economic pinch and a homogenization of our retail landscape.
Again, I’ll be disappointed. But there’s a difference between being disappointed and letting animosity blur the line between passion and aggression.
That’s the key.
Divisiveness, passion and emotion sometimes get the best of our communities. Make no mistake, that’s much preferred over indifference. We’ve got the necessary spark and vigor to be great. The potential downside to our emotional investment and vocal participation is the potential for a wall to grow between the different camps.
Regardless of the decision, let’s not let disappointment - on either side of the figurative big box fence - turn into destructive frustration.
Sure, I’m philosophically opposed to consciously sending my dollars to corporations outside our communities. And, I’m proud to say that I’ve never been inside a Wal-Mart.
But I’ll still support the decisions of local officials and appreciate their effort in navigating us through the choppy big box waters.
In the meantime, each of us has the right to have our voices heard. We all have the opportunity to shape the business landscape and character of our communities.
Let’s let the public process work. Let’s offer our input along the way. Let’s respect the efforts of the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development and Businesses and Residents for Economic Opportunity. Let’s respect the efforts of the Moscow Civic Association and the newest grassroots organization - the Moscow Greater Alliance. That’s part of the process.
Let’s have the debate and accept the results.
But, let’s not be so upset that we create factions and impede the necessary cooperation on the positive efforts, which outnumber the divisive issues 10-to-one.
Shaping the direction of our communities is complex. The discussion I had with fellow editorial board members prior to this column hitting the press further illustrates the point. We debated whether this column indirectly puts the newspaper on one side of the issue or the other. So let’s be clear: the newspaper hasn’t taken a position on the Wal-Mart issue. Nathan Alford has.
All sectors have different opinions for different reasons about Wal-Mart.
I remember outgoing Idaho Speaker of the House Bruce Newcomb, a well-known conservative, outlining to me in a visit at the statehouse how his home town of Burley, Idaho was devastated by a Wal-Mart. He also was concerned about Wal-Mart encouraging employees to apply for state medical benefits. It’s not a politically partisan issue.
Let’s engage each other in a civil manner on Wal-Mart and other contentious issues. And, much like the Daily News editorial board, let’s have a cup of coffee afterward and continue working together based on our strengths, rather than dwelling on our less common differences.
Nathan Alford is editor and publisher of the Daily News. He can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 247, or by e-mail to alford@dnews.com