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EducateWorthington.org

The 912 Project - Glenn Beck

912 Group of Central Ohio

Please let me know if you'd like your link added

Well it's nice to see that Phil Harmon [span style=\'color:red\'](CTH member and former columbus city council candidate) and Cornell (CTH member and former 610 WTVN sunday night talk show host) McCleary's group is receiving such fine news coverage after sticking their noses into the big darby land owners' rights.

This group rallied yesterday with Hilliary Clinton. My question is what will CTH band together to deal with this group???[/span]


GROUP SEEKS 'LIVING-WAGE' ORDINANCE FOR WAL-MART  

Published: Tuesday, June 28, 2005
NEWS 09B
By Mark Ferenchik
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

A local social and environmental justice group wants Columbus to force Wal-Mart to pay a "living wage.''

As several groups join together to fight a Wal-Mart Supercenter at the Carriage Place Shopping Center on the Northwest Side, Progress with Economic and Environmental Responsibility is going a step further.


The group that forced Columbus to restrict development near the Big Darby Creek now is asking the Columbus City Council to require retailers larger than 75,000 square feet to pay "living wages'' and minimum benefits. The idea is based on an ordinance that has been proposed in Chicago that would set the minimum wage for workers at so-called big-box stores at $10 per hour.

"We wanted to set certain minimum standards any big-box retailers would have to provide in order to do business in the city of Chicago,'' said Alderman Joe Moore, who introduced the idea last year after Wal-Mart proposed stores there.

Wal-Mart spokesman Philip Serghini said the living-wage proposal doesn't make sense.

"It seems pretty unfair to target one retailer specifically based on whether the store's large enough,'' Serghini said. Another Wal-Mart spokesman, Dan Fogleman, said Wal-Mart pays an average hourly wage for full-time store workers of $9.68 an hour. He said workers pay less than $40 a month for health-insurance coverage for singles and $155 a month for coverage for families.

Wal-Mart wants to build a 187,000-square-foot Supercenter at Carriage Place at Bethel and Sawmill roads, and a store on E. Broad Street on the Far East Side. The Columbus Development Commission has signed off on both. It's unclear when the City Council will consider them.

The Coalition to Protect Our Community, which includes PEER and the Northwest Civic Association, is fighting zoning changes for the Supercenter at Carriage Place.

The civic association wants the shopping center redeveloped, said Bill Schuck, the association's president.

But allowing Wal-Mart to build the larger store would wreck the zoning deal carefully worked out between the developer and the community group before the shopping center opened in 1990. The Supercenter would be too big for the center, Schuck said, and it would send a message that corporations can run over neighborhoods.

Some of the coalition's members don't want Wal-Mart at all. Cathy Levine, executive director of the Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio, a patient-advocacy group, said her group is concerned that an influx of Wal-Mart stores in Columbus would hurt competitors and erode their employees' health-care coverage.

Columbus Councilwoman Charleta Tavares said she's still listening to both sides on the zoning issue, and she had not heard anything about the living-wage proposal. She said she wouldn't know what such a wage would be, and wondered about the fairness of targeting retailers based on size.

Northwest Side resident and former Northwest Civic Association leader Peggy McElroy said she and many of her neighbors in the Misty Meadows subdivision want the Supercenter. Without it, she fears, the shopping center will wither away. The supercenter would replace theformer Big Bear and Drug Emporium stores.

mferenchik@dispatch.com

 

So, if Wal Mart gives in to their demand for this mysterious "living wage", PEER will be able to get over their case of "little man syndrome" and "concern" over the zoning issues?

I think a Wal Mart in that area is a bad idea, but I'm not going to hide my displeasure behind some socialist utopian scheme like "living wage", nor would I unite with such people to see that it doesnt happen.

Well their first act was to get this Big Darby accord bs pushed through which took away the landowner's rights to sell their land to whom they choose, now they're pulling this???

I question the motives of Phil Harmon for starters, I'd like to see his pay off in this entire deal.

BTW this health care deal that was rammed through in Maryland was started by the president of the AFL-CIO. Of the 7 other states they've tried to push this legislation through they've been shut out of getting it rammed through.

I'm not a total Wal-Mart fan however trying to twist the giant's arm into unionizing is another thing all together different. Now the living wage bit is another Hilliary move just like Reform Ohio Now was.

My question is when will people realize that Hilliary is doing her best to wreck our state without even being elected to office here.

This unfortunately is a multi-layer offensive against our state.

Nice to hear from you how have things been? What can you tell us new?

Glad you asked..
There's quite a bit new in my life, not much that I could really talk about except that I am working in Germany and learning about convoy operations and room clearing.
When I get some time I may post something on my blog here.

Until then, keep up the good fight!

ps. Haven't you noticed that the libs in Columbus fight alot like the Taliban in Afghanistan? They hide all winter before mounting their spring and summer offensives...

Well it's good to hear life is treating you well w/all of the important things your being taught.

I think of the left in groundhog terms, considering we used to clear our hayfields of them when we could. Then I learned that the they would invade our local librarys to recruit more kool aide drinkers.

Be safe and we'll look forward to hearing from you again soon.

Robert, glad to hear from you. I could use some help in the GW, Oil and Wal-Mart threads. Hope all is well. SB

Suburban officials sold on Wal-Mart


August 28, 2006

BY SANDRA GUY Business Reporter  

While Chicago politicians debate the big-box ordinance, suburban officials say they are thrilled to collect Wal-Mart Stores' hefty tax dollars, and they express no qualms about the wages Wal-Mart pays.

Indeed, suburban leaders say Wal-Mart has helped invigorate once-moribund shopping centers because other retailers are eager to open near a Wal-Mart. Two shuttered Montgomery Ward department stores now house thriving big-box retailers as a result of Wal-Mart's entry into north suburban Niles and south suburban Lansing, officials said.

The Austin community on Chicago's West Side is counting on a new Wal-Mart store to help boost its fortunes, too. Wal-Mart has already hired more than 400 of the 500 employees who will work at the store at 4650 W. North Ave., site of a long-abandoned manufacturing plant. The store is scheduled to open Sept. 19.

But Wal-Mart has put off plans to build 20 more stores, most of them SuperCenters that sell groceries, inside Chicago's city limits in the next 10 years until the big-box ordinance's fate is decided.

2nd to open in October



That ordinance, passed by the City Council last month, requires big-box retailers to pay wages and benefits of about $13 an hour, and retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Lowe's say they won't expand in Chicago if the bill is passed. Mayor Daley has indicated he will veto the bill by the Council's next session Sept. 18.

A Wal-Mart store at 5630 W. Touhy Ave. in Niles has helped transform the area into a prime site for retailers big and small, said Charles Ostman, director of community development in Niles.

A second Wal-Mart store is slated to open Oct. 17 in the Golf-Milwaukee Plaza shopping center in Niles, replacing a former Kmart. A new movie theater is scheduled to open in time for the holidays within walking distance of the new Wal-Mart, and Ostman says he believes the 1960s-era shopping center will come back to life, too.

Tax pays for upgrades



Niles Village Manager George Van Geem said he has seen no effect on the village's publicly subsidized health care costs since Wal-Mart moved in about eight years ago. Wal-Mart's critics say the world's largest retailer is so stingy with employee health insurance that taxpayers must foot their bills through means-tested social programs.

West suburban Forest Park has leveraged its Wal-Mart store to improve its aging infrastructure.

The village passed a referendum in late 2004 that imposed a 0.5 percent sales tax increase, whose proceeds are dedicated to infrastructure improvements. Wal-Mart is the village's single largest sales-tax generator.

"We were able to tackle a lot of aging, neglected infrastructure" with upgrades as a result of the $368,000 yearly collection for the infrastructure fund, said Michael Sturino, the village administrator.

The village has rebuilt and resurfaced streets and alleys and made water improvements.

Wal-Mart also had no impact on Forest Park's historic downtown, where retailers have blossomed during the time Wal-Mart has been on Roosevelt Road, a big-box shopping strip.

"Wal-Mart is exactly where it should be, and we are happy they are here," Sturino said.

In south suburban Lansing, Wal-Mart has become a destination shopping site, despite the Dan Ryan reconstruction project, said Grace Bazylewski, director of planning.

The Wal-Mart store attracted new retailers to the shopping center at 170th and Torrence, including a Pay Half, Anna's Linens and Bare Feet stores where a Service Merchandise store had stood empty for years.

Critics say low wages ignored



Wal-Mart hasn't killed smaller retailers, but Bazylewski said she believes it could hurt mom-and-pop retailers in small towns.

"There is only 'X' amount of expendable income. In a large metropolitan area, that's harder to read because we have so many varying incomes and selection criteria," she said.

Critics charge that municipalities grant Wal-Mart subsidies without questioning the low-paying jobs the retailer offers.

The Village of Niles is mentioned as granting a tax-increment financing district to its first Wal-Mart, in a report titled "Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth."

"Retailing is not economic development," said Philip Mattera, co-author of the report and research director for Good Jobs First, a liberal nonprofit research center in Washington, D.C. "A new store causes people to move around the way they use their disposable income, but it might not be a net gain for the community."

Ostman, Niles' director of community development, said his village's TIF was granted to the developer of the village's first Wal-Mart store to redevelop an old manufacturing site. The TIF, which dissolved this year, was successful in paying for the site's cleanup and the installation of water, sewer and other utilities, Ostman said.

original article

Council bill would block Kapolei superstores

Honolulu Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz says superstores impact local communities

Councilman Charles Djou says he opposes the bill because it unfairly singles out Wal-Mart Stores

By Nina Wu
nwu@starbulletin.com

It's been done across the nation -- from East Hampton, N.Y., to Tucson, Ariz., and Turlock, Calif.

Several city governments have enacted laws designed to stop big-box stores and supercenters from entering their boundaries, whether through moratoriums, limits on building size or building-permit caps.

Now a bill being pushed through Honolulu City Council, authored by Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz, is attempting to do the same, by prohibiting supercenters from being built on Oahu.

A supercenter, as defined in the resolution introduced last month, is any store occupying more than 90,000 square feet, with more than 20,000 square feet dedicated to grocery sales, and more than 25,000 items.

"A superstore of that magnitude would definitely impact any local community," said Dela Cruz. "We need to start thinking about long-term impacts."

But Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and authors of the bill seem to define "supercenters" differently when it comes to size.

The Wal-Mart store in Pearl City measures about 148,000 square feet. Wal-Mart currently has no supercenters in Hawaii, though they are being rolled out rapidly across the mainland, where they average 185,000 square feet.

Wal-Mart says its average discount store nationwide is about 101,000 square feet, with about 120,000 items. Sam's Clubs typically measure about 130,000 square feet.

While authors of the bill swear that it's not targeted at Wal-Mart or any one business in particular, backers of the measure are notoriously anti-Wal-Mart.

Supporters of the resolution include Kapolei First, a small activist group that rallied to try to stop Wal-Mart from building what they said was a "supercenter" at the corner of Makakilo Drive and Farrington Highway in Kapolei.

Wal-Mart had said several times the proposed Kapolei store was not a "supercenter," but just a regular-format discount store like its others in Hawaii.

Kapolei First is pushing for the bill's passage. Spokeswoman Carolyn Golojuch said she would not give up her grassroots campaign against Wal-Mart -- she continues to gather signatures for a petition.

"Everyone with common sense knows that this particular intersection is just overloaded," said Golojuch. "To me, it was getting out of hand."

The group even enlisted the pro-bono services of Lex Smith, an attorney at Kobayashi, Sugita & Goda, to lobby for the resolution.

Other backers include the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 480. In the United States, Wal-Mart is nonunion.

Pat Loo, president of UFCW, said the group would testify on behalf of the resolution.

"I certainly think we have enough of them (big-box stores) here," Loo said. "But we don't understand the entire impact. There should be some sort of moratorium at this time, so we can look at the impact on our island and our communities."

Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who also introduced the bill, said she believes such a law is necessary because of a supercenter's potential impact on small businesses.

Turlock is the latest example of a city government that has stopped Wal-Mart from entering its borders.

The language of the Honolulu resolution, says attorney Smith, is modeled after the one that was passed in Turlock, Calif., a small suburb 85 miles southeast of San Francisco.

The Turlock law -- enacted two years ago -- prohibits stores bigger than 100,000 square feet from devoting more than 5 percent of floor space to groceries.

It was backed by labor unions and neighborhood grocery stores opposing a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter in Turlock.

Wal-Mart unsuccessfully challenged Turlock's law in state appeals court, and then at the California Supreme Court. In July, the Supreme Court rejected Wal-Mart's appeal.

In Honolulu, the resolution would be the first of its kind.

It was introduced on July 20, and referred to the zoning committee, but has not been scheduled for a hearing yet.

Councilman Charles Djou, chairman of the zoning committee, says he opposes the bill because it targets Wal-Mart, and that city government should not regulate certain business models.

"What this is effectively trying to do is prohibit a particular type of business," he said. "If people don't like Wal-Mart, don't shop there. But I don't think we should be legislating that people should not shop at a particular store, or that it shouldn't be allowed in a certain community."

CORRECTION
Saturday, August 26, 2006
» An ordinance banning superstores that is being pushed through the Honolulu City Council would have no effect on the proposed Kapolei Wal-Mart. That store will not fall under the proposed ordinance's definition of a banned superstore because it would not dedicate more than 20,000 square feet of floor area to the sale of groceries. A headline on Page B1 in yesterday's morning edition incorrectly said that the bill would block Wal-Mart.


original article