Our Town Damariscotta

The family of Jdimytai Damour has filed suit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.  The death, which The Oregonian (Ore.) called preventable, occurred on Black Friday.  While no amount of money can ever replace a lost loved-one, the hope is that Wal-Mart will respond by taking appropriate safety measures in future situations like this one to protect the Associates they claim to care so much about. Our hearts go out to the family of Jdimytai Damour.

Victim’s kin file suit in Wal-Mart stampede death [Associated Press]

The family of a New York man who was trampled to death the day after Thanksgiving by a stampede of bargain hunting Wal-Mart shoppers has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

The family also filed notice that Nassau County, on Long Island, and its police department will be sued.

The lawsuit against Wal-Mart and the Long Island mall where it is located was filed Wednesday in state Supreme Court in the Bronx on behalf of Elsie Damour Phillipe. Phillipe is the sister of victim Jdimytai Damour (DHMEE’-tree Di-MOHR’), and is the court-appointed administrator of his estate.

Damour, a temporary worker hired for the holiday season, was crushed to death when some 2,000 customers stormed into the Valley Stream store.

None of the defendants in the lawsuit immediately responded to requests for comment.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown - a former California Governor, CA Secretary of State, Mayor of Oakland, and President of the Patrick Stewart fan club - announced a settlement with Wal-Mart today in which the retailer was fined $1.4 million and ordered to implement a “get it free” program for California consumers. This after an investigation found that the store overcharged for numerous items at checkout.

Actually, the investigation and settlement announcement was a joint venture with San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, who has a much shorter but waaaaayyyyy more interesting Wikipedia entry than AG Brown. In fact, Dumanis, a Republican, is the first openly gay or lesbian District Attorney in the county, and the first Jewish woman to hold the post. Fancy that.

Anyway, back to the story we’re here to tell. Apparently, Investigators conducting random price-checking across the state found that 164 Wal-Mart Stores in 30 counties had made scanning errors. On average, customers who were overcharged paid an extra $8.40 at checkout.

Christine Gasparac, a spokeswoman for Brown, said state investigators concluded that “these were systemic problems,” not just run-of-the-mill mistakes.

“Systemic problems” might sounds bad to some, but one person’s systemic problems are another person’s financial opportunity. As the LA Times blog puts it - if Wal-Mart’s price scanners are wrong, you can make a quick $3. So the moral to this story - and every blog post I write today will have a moral - is to shop at Wal-Mart, cross your fingers that their registers go insane, and then collect a cool handful of George Washingtons.

Wal-Mart now promises to give back $3 to customers any time a pricing mistake is discovered. If the mispriced item sells for less than $3, you get it free. The refund program begins immediately and will last for four years, but it’s up to shoppers to spot any disparity between what a product is listed for on the shelf and what’s rung up by the price scanner.

The company was also ordered to pay $1.2 million in penalties; $190,621 to reimburse costs to numerous state agencies and prosecutors’ offices; and $50,000 to a consumer-protection prosecution trust fund.

Wal-Mart to pay $3 if price-scanning errors occur [Sacramento Bee]

Falling sales-tax revenues. An onslaught of vacant storefronts. When your state economy is based on growth, and the national economy goes in the tank, these are the dangers. According to yesterday’s Arizona Republic:

By late next year, more than 75 stores are expected to close, resulting in a loss of nearly 2,000 Arizona retail jobs. The turnover likely will offer shoppers bargains at various going-out-of-business sales and could eventually inspire an influx of newer, trendier stores. But the closures also have city officials scrambling to cover revenue shortfalls and deter commercial blight.

While Wal-Mart may be able to absorb the cost of closed stores and their leases, cities and towns are left dealing with empty buildings that can lead to a rise in crime and vandalism, the lowering of property values, and depressed sales for neighboring retailers when the closed store is the anchor for a strip mall. And for states like Arizona, a drop in sales tax revenue. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has pointed out that some cities, such as Oakdale, California, or Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, require retail developers set aside money that can be used by the city to either demolish or maintain the site should the store or shopping center become vacant.

Some cities, like Mesa, Arizona, aren’t so lucky.

The shell of a former Walmart sits 2 miles from a Kmart that will close in January. A Mervyn’s and Circuit City will soon depart the area. Such losses this year contributed to Mesa’s $62 million budget shortfall. The city announced 315 layoffs last month.

Cities try to cope with shortfalls in sales taxes, blight left by shut stores [Arizona Republic]

Source : WalmartWatch Blog

Big-Box Store vs. Local Business:

Where your dollars go in Midcoast Maine

Locally owned businesses spend 52% of their total sales revenues in the state of Maine.

Nationally-owned big box stores keep 14% of total revenues in the state of Maine, almost all of which is spent o payroll. The rest of their revenue is sent out of state and overseas.

As the world’s largest corporation, Wal-Mart behaves shamelessly in the way it forces itself on American communities. Its aggressive bullying of American communities occurs because Wal-Mart’s growth is central to its business model; it has to grow to sustain its profits, $10 billion in 2004 alone. Analysts have noted that Wal-Mart’s growth efforts are nothing short of a “massive undertaking.”

Read the Report (this pdf document is 2.7 mb, broadband connection is encouraged)

Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer.

Of the 100 most powerful economies in the world, Wal-Mart ranks #19.

Wal-Mart’s Success Comes at a Cost to Employees In the form of ; poverty wages

In 2003, sales associates, the most common job in Wal*Mart, earned on average $8.23 and hour for annual wages of $13,861. The 2003 poverty line for a family of three was $15,260.

50% of Wal-Mart employees qualify for food stamps.

The majority of Wal-Mart employees work part time and do not qualify for benefits.

Damariscotta: A 35,000 square foot size cap on retail development is now part of the town land use ordinance, thanks to a strong victory in the March 21 secret ballot election. For Information contact Our Town at admin@ourtowndamariscotta.com.

Newcastle: A 35,000 square foot size cap on retail development is now part of the town land use ordinance after a record turnout and nearly unanimous support at the March 27 Annual Town Meeting. For Information contact Our Town at admin@ourtowndamariscotta.com.

Nobleboro: With record turnout and a landslide YES vote, Nobleboro voters passed a 6-month moratorium to give the town time to complete its comprehensive plan and consider a 35,000 square foot size cap. These measures will be voted on in the fall. For more information about Nobleboro contact Marty Welt at: backlog@tidewater.net

Edgecomb: On May 20, the Town of Edgecomb will vote on a 35,000 sq. ft. size cap at the Annual Town Meeting, which begins at 10:00 am at the Edgecomb Eddy School on Route 27. The Planning Board, which is unanimous in its support for the size cap, has held two informational meetings and a formal public hearing. There has been no opposition to the size cap, and many people have spoken in support of it. For more information on the Edgecomb effort contact Kathleen Halm at kmc@lincoln.midcoast.com

Waldoboro: On June 13 the town of Waldoboro will vote on a 45,000 square foot size cap by secret ballot at the Waldoboro Town office. Our Town Waldoboro has been running a strong pro-size cap campaign, countered by Don’t Box our Future, the self-proclaimed opposition to the Size Cap. The vote promises to be a cliffhanger. For more information go to www.ourtownwaldoboro.com. To recieve updates on Waldoboro send an email to ourtown@midcoast.com.

Wiscasset:  Citizens in Wiscasset are currently circulating a petition for a moratorium on retail development to protect that town from out-of-scale retail development until their Comprehensive Plan can be finalized.  To be included in future Wiscasset emails please email Bill Phinney at: phinland2003@yahoo.com.

Warren: The newly formed Our Town Warren is currently circulating a petition for a 6-month moratorium on retail development to give town residents time to put into place a 35,000 square foot size cap. To sign the petition or for more information about the Warren effort contact Steve Burke at: stevbee@midcoast.com.

Thomaston: Thomaston will vote on competing size cap proposals at their May 16 town meeting. One proposed cap is 70,000 square feet, and the other is 150,000 square feet. Our Town Thomaston is campaigning to pass the smaller size cap, which members say is more in scale with Thomaston’s current size.

Hello Our Town!
We have not stopped working on issues of Big Box development and citizens’ rights to control their future. Here are some updates. We need your help.

Waldoboro Update: Waldoboro will have a size cap on their June Warrant. Details of language and size are still being worked out, but there will be a warrant item for sure. Our Town Waldoboro held their inaugural meeting on Wednesday April 5, and volunteers are working on various aspects of the campaign to pass the Waldoboro size cap. If you live in Waldoboro and would like to be involved in this effort, please email ourtown@midcoast.com. This is the official email address for Our Town Waldoboro, maintained by Bill Hinkley.

Wiscasset Update: Citizens in Wiscasset will circulate a petition for a moratorium on retail development to protect that town until their Comprehensive Plan can be finalized. They will have petitions available for signatures on Saturday, April 8 on the Wiscasset Town Common. Please pass this word around to your Wiscasset friends and neighbors. To be included in future Wiscasset emails please email
Bill Phinney at: phinland2003@yahoo.com

LD1481: Finally, LD 1481, the bill limiting the reach of citizen action to stop development, passed in the Maine Senate by a wide margin. We are extremely disappointed in this result, and feel it to be a real victory for the suits over the citizens.

If 1481 becomes law it will make it MUCH EASIER for Wal-Mart and other Big Box developers to force their way into small towns across Maine. We would like our recent local victories to be the first of many success stories, not the last.

We are happy to report that Dana Dow was a champion for the rights of citizens, and fought hard to defeat this bill. His impassioned speech on the Senate floor and his NO vote were not enough, however, and the bill passed 24-10.

Now we move on to the Maine House of Representatives, where our chances to defeat it may be better. The House will probably vote sometime next week, so please act TODAY (details and contact information below). Jonathan McKane and David Trahan have both committed to vote against the bill, in part because so many of their consitituents have already contacted them about Big Box development in the Midcoast. Both feel it is essential to keep local control in the hands of citizens. People who live in other districts should make every effort to contact their representatives. Everyone should contact the Governor’s office. Please forward the information below widely.

Signing off,
Jenny and Eleanor

Inadequate Health Coverage

Fewer than half of Wal-Mart employees are insured by the company’s health plan, compared to 66% at other large companies.

Premiums: employees pay 42% of the cost of their individual health coverage.

High deductibles and co-payments: a single worker could pay $6400 ( about 45% of annual full-time salary ) before ever seeing a a single benefit from the health plan.

Wal-Mart produces employee handouts about how to apply for Medicaid, food stamps, and other forms of public assistance.

Wal-Mart’s Success Comes at a Cost to American Taxpayers

Providing public benefits to a single Wal-Mart employing 200 people can cost taxpayers $420,000 per year. This includes free and reduced lunches, housing assistance, tax-credits and deductions for low-income families, state and federal health care costs. Title I expenses, and energy assistance for qualified employees.

March 27
Newcastle Town Meeting

Wal-Mart’s plan to build a large store in a small town is the backdrop for this sharp-edged docu-comedy.

All goes well for the corporate giant until an 11th hour citizens’ rebellion resists the lure of low prices to reveal another side of the bargain–a side which paves over open land, annihilates Main Street businesses, and rolls back wages.

The story goes still deeper–following, over a period of seven years, Greenfield decision contrasted with a town 20 miles away which welcomes the corporation.

The results of decisions made years earlier are clearly documented. Made by an award-winning filmmaker, Steve Alves, who fought in his town’s internationally recognized battle against Wal-Mart.

Personal and incisive, Talking to the Wall examines the issue of big box chain stores, and citizens unwittingly turned into a nation of consumers, with humor and depth. This multi-award winning movie has inspired numerous groups to learn how to organize and defeat Wal-Mart.

Visit the Talking to the Wall website.