There are so many things that come to mind now that Wal-Mart’s coming to town. There’s that big, blue sign. There’s the light pollution at night. There’s the fact that Wal-Mart encourages people to camp out overnight in their parking lots. There’s the bussing of inner city residents that Wal-Mart will have to do to get labor cheap enough to work there. There’s the crime that seems to follow Wal-Mart Stores from town to town. And, of course, its “24x7-365”, open everyday all day with Wal-Mart.
All of this reminds me of the “law of unintended consequences”. Perhaps our Town Council really didn’t know any of this when they approved the tax giveaway to get “The Marketplace” built. Perhaps they thought they were acting in the best interests of our citizens. Perhaps they were snookered into believing that “The Marketplace” would be a “unique shopping experience”.
What I can’t understand is why those on the council who drove this deal home didn’t foresee first, that Wal-Mart would be the main tenant; and, second, that with Wal-Mart comes major consequences. Did they do any research into Vestar’s typical tenants? Or checkout other malls that Vestar builds or runs? Because if they had, they would have realized that Wal-Mart was on its way. Did they try to foresee the “unintended consequences” of a 150,000 square foot behemoth located in the heart of town? Because, that’s what we pay them to do: To consider all the alternatives and to foresee what is obvious. And, to me, all of these “unintended consequences” were easily foreseeable and obvious.
Here's what bothers me most: The very people that we elect to protect our interests either didn’t do their homework or didn’t care about our interests. Either way,shame on them.
