Looking at the 1995 City of Winona Comprehensive plan, under the section titled Manufacturing, it lists the Riverbend project. I haven't been able to find the original newspaper articles outlining the proposals for the sales tax to pay for dredging the lake and filling in the land, so I can't verify what was originally and officially stated as the purpose of the project. My recollection is that the dual purpose was to improve Lake Winona and to provide land for light manufacturing, thus improving both Winona's aesthetics and recreational possibilities as well as attracting good paying jobs to Winona.
My scan of the on-line articles available on the Winona Daily News site reminded me that before Menard's participation, there was a proposed $25 Million mall but the developer pulled out, and Menards stepped in, with a contingency on the part of the city that other retail establishments would be located at the site in addition to Menards.
For me, Wal-Mart operates on a totally different scale than any of the other big boxes because of its enormity. We would all object if a single businessman owned every or nearly every business operating in Winona. Yet, Wal-Mart will essentially be a small town business district, contained in a big box, and owned by a single business entity which isn't headquartered here and has no local interests here, aside from taking whatever profit it can. Wal-Mart will not use our local banks (and will probably try to compete with them by opening its own branch of its own bank), our local accountants, our local contractors. Unlike locally owned and operated establishments, Wal-Mart has no interest in the Winona community of Winona. If Winona's purchasing power dwindles because of the number of businesses lost due to WalMart, WalMart will simply abandon its big box and move on to the next town. It won't sell it's vacant property, but will hold on to it, leaving us with an eyesore and empty shops.
Wal-Mart will foist its responsibility towards its employees onto the city, county and state by not providing affordable insurance coverage and by paying such low wages that its employees will be forced to turn to community foodshelves and other publicly funded services. If Wal-Mart were not a wealthy corporation that could well afford to provide better for its employees, perhaps this could be less egregious. Wal-Mart has knowingly engaged in deceptive advertising practices, and has a terrible track record with regards to labor laws, gender discrimination, and consumer safety. There are murmers of anti-trust lawsuits being brought against WalMart and other 'big box' stores that engage in predatory pricing practices. There are a number of people who are predicting that in a few years, Wal-Mart will experience an implosion--will collapse. To me, this makes WalMart a bad bet for Winona.
Terri Hyle
From: "Kathy Seifert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> CC: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: FW: [Winona] Wal-Mart Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 11:18:33 -0500
[Winona Online Democracy]
Bryon (I'm assuming and adding a friendly reminder to sign all posts!):
Thanks for sharing this to clarify. I had a sense that Bob and David were
on different wavelengths, but couldn't put my finger on it! Now I see that
the decision David referred to was the supreme court's--not a local decision
by our county or city officials. This is an excellent example of how what
happens on the national level is significant to us locally! If I'm
understanding correctly, this historic decision seems to have been pivotal
to the development of more corporate power in America? I imagine the
arguments for and against this decision are as numerous as those for and
against Wal-Mart coming to Winona. It seems as though Wal-Mart couldn't
exist and the Enron tragedy couldn't have happened without that pivotal
decision and others that followed. I can also argue that we wouldn't even
be able to have an online discussion forum without it--the technology would
never have been deveoped without the corporate environment. It still leaves
us with the question of what our community wants and what vision guides the
decisions of elected officials.
In a sense, it comes down to the "reactive vs. proactive dichotomy"--or do
we as a comminity jump at the chance of a big box coming to town because one
expresses interest or are we consciously courting this kind of commerce
because it is what we want? Can any one answer the question of whether this
was the intention of the city when levying the tax for the dredging? Was it
a "Field of Dreams" (i.e., If you build it, big boxes will come") kind of
thing or was more of trying to create the opportunity for options where none
existed previously? I think those intentions make a significant difference
and I don't really know the answer--plus it's difficult to know what is true
and what is conjecture. Maybe Jerome or some of the other media folks who
have followed this more closely can enlighten us with facts?
Kathy Seifert ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 9:11 AM Subject: Re: FW: [Winona] Wal-Mart
> [Winona Online Democracy]
>
>
> > Wal-Mart is not an individual; therefore, it should not claim the
> > "right" of equality.
> > Individuals that interact with the corporation such as officers,
> > employees, or contractors do and should have rights.
> >
> > Unfortunately, this is not the case and serves to highlight the
> > irrational status Corporate person-hood has catapulted itself to over
> > the last hundred years. A court clerk, without prior debate thought
> > otherwise and essentially gave corporations person-hood. Over time, the
> > precedent has been repeatedly exploited by corporate lawyers, yet the
> > precedent has never been debated. It is time to end what was started by
> > the actions of a court clerk.
>
>
> > Wal-Mart is not an individual; therefore, it should not claim the
> > "right" of equality. Individuals that interact with the corporation
> such as officers,
> > employees, or contractors do and should have rights.
>
> I really think this is a fascinating issue. Below is a short excerpt
> from a good discussion available here:
>
> http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/28/usa.html
>
>
>
> Then came a legal event that would not be understood for decades (and
> remains baffling even today), an event that would change the course of
> American history. In Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad, a
> dispute over a railbed route, the US Supreme Court deemed that a private
> corporation was a "natural person" under the US Constitution and
> therefore entitled to protection under the Bill of Rights. Suddenly,
> corporations enjoyed all the rights and sovereignty previously enjoyed
> only by the people, including the right to free speech.
>
> This 1886 decision ostensibly gave corporations the same powers as
> private citizens. But considering their vast financial resources,
> corporations thereafter actually had far more power than any private
> citizen. They could defend and exploit their rights and freedoms more
> vigorously than any individual and therefore they were more free. In a
> single legal stroke, the whole intent of the American Constitution --
> that all citizens have one vote, and exercise an equal voice in public
> debates -- had been undermined. Sixty years after it was inked, Supreme
> Court Justice William O. Douglas concluded of Santa Clara that it "could
> not be supported by history, logic or reason." One of the great legal
> blunders of the nineteenth century changed the whole idea of democratic
> government.
>
>
>
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