This Week (And Last) in Walmart News
Long story coming next week, but in the mean time, a few items that wouldn't fit!
Respect D.C.'s version of Walmart. (Lydia DePillis)
- WARD 5 IS A DEN OF CORRUPTION: You've probably heard of Councilmember Harry Thomas' alleged difficulty keeping his hands out of the kids' piggy bank. But lower down on the political totem pole, the malfeasance gets even more brash: Advisory Neighborhood Commission 5B chairman Bill Shelton, resigned the chairmanship yesterday after the D.C. Auditor* found that he had liquidated the ANC's bank account using an illegal debit card. What does this have to do with Walmart? Nothing, necessarily, except that Thomas is a big Walmart supporter, and Shelton is a big Thomas supporter, and Shelton's ANC approved the Point at Arboretum development without so much as sending comments to the Office of Planning on the project's large tract review application.
Even more fishily, the commissioner for the proposed Walmart, Jacqueline Manning, declined comment when I asked her about the project. Arboretum Neighborhood Association vice president Mildred Stevenson is feeling railroaded. "How I perceive this is that Harry Thomas is driving the bus," Stevenson says. "He's saying to Commissioner Manning that 'This is going to happen, so I’m leaving it to you to sell this to your community."
- V.O.'s HEARING NOISES: At last week's Respect D.C. rally, it didn't look like any councilmembers were going to come out to Freedom Plaza to support activists asking for a binding community benefits agreement (Mayor Vince Gray's press shop, meanwhile, was announcing Walmart's $665,000 contribution towards summer programming for youth). But then, United Food and Commercial Workers Union organizer Tony Perez noticed Councilmember Vincent Orange emerge from the Wilson Building across the street, and convinced him to say a few words. Orange said he'd met with Walmart reps recently, and thought that there should be public hearings on their entry into the District—making him the first councilmember to do so. But how real was that promise? Orange doesn't even have his own committee to hold hearings in, after all. I called and emailed his chief of staff this week to ask when they might be scheduled, and got no response.
- ANC 4B GETS TOUGH: In marked contrast to 5B, ANC 4B met on Monday and approved an 11-page resolution with conditions including traffic management, community engagement, and local business assistance. The District Department of Transportation had just a few days before approved developer Foulger-Pratt's previously-inadequate traffic study. Now, the Office of Planning will look through everybody's recommendations for its final review.
* Corrected to reflect the fact that it was the Auditor, not the Inspector General, that did the report on the ANC's finances.
7:45 pm
Orange is a joke.
11:30 pm
ANC4B is a hotdamn mess. They should also be investigated for how they misaccounted for expenditures during a period that DC auditor "bypasse" their books. They refuse to hear the citizens at their meetings and will quickly call the police on those who become frustrated about being shutdown. Messy asses!
12:02 pm
WalMart is the largest corporation in the United States with some 400 Billion in sales. It has been successfully sued in thousands of cases of wage theft and it has a pattern of abusive and prejudicial and discriminative employee practices. Why then would anyone want this organization. It is because there never was a big box store, or large developer that a politician did not like (unless they met in the same cell in Federal Prison)
If you look up the term, "Monopoly" in the dictionary, you will find WalMart's picture there. As to corruption. Of course you are right! This is just the tip of the iceberg. I'll wager half of the council has been suborned in some way, either directly or through relatives, and or employees, consultants or operatives.
I would like Council and City Government to take an "impartiality pledge" by disavowing and connection or consulting, or contracting relationship by city officials or their employees, contractors, or family and WalMart. As to Walmart...I'm paraphrasing here. In the film, a judge is quoted as saying,"... is there something in the water in Arkanssas that prevents Walmart Execs from telling the truth?"
Walmart is the enabler ...politicians are the enabled.