Haters derail Walmart in Warrenton, OR

The link below is the letter that was edited and published in The Daily Astorian May 10, 2013.

 Walmart Welcomed

Clatsop County Residents Against Walmart, a useless organization.

I’m certain the unheard majority of Northwest Oregonians hope Walmart doesn’t give up on the idea of moving here, but you wonder how long they’ll endure the hate groups who want to stop them. Liquefied natural gas, the coal facility in Longview, Wash., the chance to level the old and ugly outdated hotel at the Port of Astoria and build a brand new motel with a beautifully landscaped green belt walk way, have been derailed – now Walmart.

It’s unbelievable how these small groups of local/state bureaucrats, and a very loud, vocal minority of Walmart haters jumping up and down, with the help of groups with names like the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals and Clatsop Residents Against Walmart (CRAW), keep from improving our community. Their primary goal is always to halt businesses and jobs, and thus much needed tax revenue from coming to our area.

The wetlands permitting process is a complete joke. They let Home Depot, Costco, Taco Bell, Lum’s Auto Center, two auto parts stores, and a strip mall be built in wetland areas near Warrenton. But Walmart? Oh no, they have to have this kind of store front and have this many bicycle racks, and on and on.

They invent anything – any ridiculous attempt to stop them – not because they’re worried about wetlands, but because they want us to continue to be held hostage by Fred Meyer and Safeway and their outrageously high prices. Small towns and small businesses in cities like Astoria must evolve. The mom and pop stores don’t offer the choices or the prices low-income earners need to support their families.

The Daily Astorian’s bleeding heart editorial pieces, and the letters to the editor by many readers, are always quick to point how the school district, the college, the public transportation system, the “this program” and “that program” need taxpayer funding – but they, along with this small loud minority, continue to stop any attempts of business from taking root.

Instead, the answer is always to swamp us working people with higher taxes, not to solicit business and the jobs and tax revenue they would generate. The Warrenton City Planning Commission needs to be replaced with members who understand that courting business, not bending to these groups, is what’s needed. If not, the store that will turn the highest profit may be Goodwill, another brand-new structure built near the same wetlands these Walmart haters are crying about.

I guess I’ll continue to take the one-hour car ride every two or three weeks, and take my money to Longview or to Vancouver, Wash., Walmart to save money on toiletries, clothes and groceries, like I’ve been doing since I moved here in 2007. Thanks, Oregon.