BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2016) — Yesterday, we presented reasons to oppose the Big Box Boogie. Today, THE PLANET presents the other side.  We will present this in the form of refutations of the opponents strongest arguments.

OBJECTION 1: Walmart, Super or not, is not a fit use for the site.

REFUTATION: It’s been close to 20 years since the Consent Agreement turned over 52 acres of land from GE to Pittsfield. The Suits sold the idea to a public not so much gullible as desperate. They shamelessly took advantage of this with the lure of manufacturing coming to the site, with big-pay, good-benefit positions — you know, like the Pittsfield School Department, only with accountability. Well, just as it didn’t at Dan Fox Drive, the manufacturing boom didn’t happen, and to this day, we’re still waiting for the first new tenant. If it hasn’t happened in 18 years, why wait any longer? At least Walmart will clean “The Teens” at PEDA and put in a store that will provide jobs (more than at its current location) and taxes (ditto).

OBJECTION 2: The Teens are too valuable a location to “give away” to Big Box development.

REFUTATION: PEDA executive director Corydon Thurston himself admitted that the land is problematic. When your “leader” says this, you know the property has to be in rough shape. Walmart says it will sink $12 million into site preparation. What other company would do that? In short, the answer to Objection 2 is, “Got anything better?” For 18 years the answer has been no. For 18 more, the answer will still be no, especially with Thurston’s ringing endorsement of the land.

OBJECTION 3 — The jobs pay low wages

REFUTATION — True, working at Walmart isn’t like working for the school department, but the company says its current full-time employees at Berkshire Crossing (more than half of the workers there) average $14.86 an hour. The company adds that these employees “are eligible for health insurance, matched 401K benefits, and bonuses.” For Pittsfield, a city without a true economy, that’s a great deal. A job is a job is a job.

OBJECTION 4: Walmart will put other stores out of business.

REFUTATION: And your point is? That’s the nature of good, old-fashioned capitalism. Competition lowers prices. The Walmart model delivers a good variety of less expensive, quality goods and services. That’s why people shop there. It’s not for the ambience. It’s the price, baby. THE PLANET also points out that while some stores have not been able to withstand the Walmart presence, others have, businesses such as Paul Rich Furniture (Walmart sells furniture), Carr Hardware (Walmart sells hardware), Steven Valenti Clothing (Walmart sells clothes) and others. The local stores that survive finds ways to beat Walmart, primarily through great local service that generates loyalty.

OBJECTION 5: We already have a Walmart. The move will create another empty store, this one huge.

REFUTATION: Yup, we already have a Walmart. The one at PEDA, though, would be what the company calls a “Supercenter.” It will provide more jobs, pay more taxes, and offer more goods and services compared to the store at Berkshire Crossing. The company also says the Supercenter would “become a catalyst for future mixed-use [businesses at PEDA], bringing hundreds of new jobs and tax revenues to the city.” That needs to be vetted, of course, but how else do you do it than by letting Walmart in and seeing what happens? As for the big, empty box, if Walmart owns it, it will still be paying taxes. Moreover, what’s one more in a city with so many?

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 From THE PLANET‘s perspective, those strongest argument in favor of a Supercenter at “The Teens” is the lack of activity for 18 long years. The Teens have been available since 1998, and thus far, there have been no takers.What other choice does the city have? This is the price a city pays when its ignores citizens for 30 years.

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“Without Waterstone’s plan, the contamination at the site will continue to dissuade development, as it has for nearly two decades.” — Chris Buchanan, director of public affairs, Walmart.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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