PARD's Anti-Wal-Mart Hired Gun Attorneys

PARD's attorneys, the Seattle law firm of Bricklin Newman Dold, are hired guns who have battled Wal-Mart all over the state of Washington.

- In Yelm
- In Mount Vernon
- In Poulsbo (free registration required)
- And in Arlington, Marysville, and Mill Creek

Even more intriguing was this post on a now-defunct Yelm message board:

Are you sitting down?

The Yelm Commerce Group was infomed by our lawyer David Bricklin that the UFCW (grocery store workers union) has decided that our case against Wal-Mart had merit and asked Mr. Bricklin to move ahead with the appeal.

Then there was this from the (Everett) Daily Herald:

A small group of residents, with help from a Seattle labor union, has been fighting the plan in recent months. Resident groups in Arlington and Marysville are fighting proposed Wal-Mart stores in those cities as well. The Mill Creek group has collected about 3,000 signatures opposing the store.

...Wal-Mart's estimate of more than 5,000 trips generated by the store per day is low, said Seattle attorney Claudia Newman, who was hired by groups fighting Wal-Mart stores in Arlington and Marysville as well as the one in Mill Creek

And this from the Daily Herald again:

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Seattle has been paying the bulk of the cost for an attorney to fight approval of the store, Lowe said. Residents have been chipping in, and raised $750 in a holiday sale recently, she said.

"We're trying to help out," Bonham said.

And more from the Mill Creek Enterprise:

Talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors, talk to people at your church (about Wal-Mart)," urged Heather Golden, an organizer with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1001.

In addition to a petition drive, attendees made preliminary plans to stand on local street corners waving signs opposing Wal-Mart.

Tuesday's decisions are the result of a national movement battling the company and its business practices. Spearheaded by national labor unions like the UFCW and the Teamsters, the movement, called Wake-Up Wal-Mart, seeks to change those practices.

"A number of local unions in this area have contributed money to our efforts," said Golden. "So far we've used that money to hire a land-use lawyer. (Claudia Newman)."

Are PARD's attorneys being paid by the UFCW? Draw your own conclusions.

PARD Solicits Donations at Union-Backed Wal-Mart Watch

Wal-Mart Watch, is an Astroturf group which is funded by the Service Employees International Union.

From the Wal-Mart Watch website:

As expected, Mark Workman, the City of Pullman Washington official behind the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter approved the SEPA process with *nonsignificance*. Despite our discovery that there is a 400 foot boundary difference between the original plat maps of the Pullman Cemetery and the latest USGS maps, construction will begin. The City has requested that WM investigate the bordering cemetery, but they are not expecting this happen first. Like other states (Colorado, Tennessee, Texas and Vancouver, B.C), WM has no problem digging up and building over deceased bodies.

Currently, the 14 day public comment/appeal progress is underway, ending July 11th, 5pm. During this time, we will present our public appeals and legal case. Appeals include traffic issues, light pollution, erosion (our town is in hills that stand 2,800 feet in some areas), pedesterian issues as the project borders an elementery and middle school neighborhood, and historical landscape concerns.

We have never been so disappointed with a local city governance.
We can’t wait for the next election. We are accepting donations for our legal efforts.

m in pullman , washington
Tuesday, June 28 at 11:36 PM

PARD Solicits Donations at Al Norman's "Sprawl Busters"

Al Norman is an activist who has made a career out of attacking Wal-Mart. His website is called Sprawl-Busters. Norman now runs "Battle-Mart" for the Astroturf group Wal-Mart Watch, which is funded by the Service Employees International Union. Pullman is listed as a featured "Site Fight" at Battle-Mart.

This story was posted at Sprawl-Busters:

2005-03-14
Pullman, WA. Citizens Explain Opposition to Wal-Mart

Several activists from Pullman, Washington contacted Sprawl-Busters to correct our earlier story about Pullman, in which we incorrectly moved the town to Idaho. Pullman is close to the Idaho border, but actually is in Washington state. Here is the report submitted to Newsflash about the battle in Pullman: "Wal-Mart is planning to build a Wal-Mart Superstore in the city of Pullman. The planned Bishop Blvd. store location will be a gigantic 223,000 square feet and have a parking lot for approximately 1000 cars. PARD assesses the proposed store to be a threat to neighboring wetlands, businesses, the Bishop Place retirement/assisted living community, Pullman Regional Hospital, and the city cemetery, thus raising vital concerns about to public safety, health, and financial stability. To compound this issue, the city "to date" has refused to call a public meeting on the matter, and in spite of numerous requests to the Director of Public Works, it does not appear as if he will refer the review of Wal-Mart's site plan (and consideration of its "fiscal impact on the city") to the Board of Adjustment for a public hearing, which city code gives him the power to do. PARD as a group does not feel as though the city of Pullman, nor the Palouse region as a whole, can support a Wal-Mart Superstore coming to the the area. We have collected information from numerous sources which indicate that Wal-Mart, coming to a town like Pullman, often results in financial trouble for the city as a whole. Further, this issue is not an isolated "Pullman problem." It represents a serious impact to the city of Moscow, Idaho as well. Moscow, a short eight miles away, already has a Wal-Mart which is sure to close shortly after the Wal-Mart Superstore is opened, thus increasing unemployment in the area."

What you can do: PARD is looking for citizen help to overcome the Wal-Mart supercenter proposal: "Please consider making a donation, which will be used to hire professional legal help and provide support for advertising, petition drives, and various task forces seeking open, democratic discussion and review of Wal-Mart's site plan proposal by the City of Pullman. All donations are confidential but not tax deductible. Checks should be made out to Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development (or PARD) and mailed to: Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development, P.O. Box 641, Pullman, WA 99163."