"Local developers work to build towns, save schools"

Whitman County's small towns are not agonizing about "sprawl" or "architorture." They just want to survive.

From yesterday's Whitman County Gazette:

While many eyes in the county are focused on the Hawkins’ development and the income it is expected to generate, other developments are popping up on the edges of many small towns in the county. Local residents have been taking on the role of developers to keep their schools viable and strengthen and build their communities.

“We just think we’ve got good options for people here,” said Art Schultheis, co-developer of Southview in Colton.

As a former member of the planning commission, Dale Miller, Uniontown, came to realize the town needed to increase its population. The commission encouraged people to develop and one family started to, but backed away due to costs.

“It’s not cheap to develop land,” he said. Miller noted that since small towns don’t attract developers, locals have to shoulder the load. He is a managing partner of the Rolling Hills development which is located on the land that started to be developed. He said that locals becoming developers in their small towns was an investment in the community.

Miller and Schultheis both noted the need for more houses to keep the school district viable. Schultheis pointed out that the school has the same number of families as when he graduated 25 years ago, but with fewer children per family the enrollment numbers have dropped. The solution is to bring more families into the district which would require more houses.

Paul Hendrickson, Garfield, also realized the need for more housing. As a member of the school board he has seen the number of students dwindle as farms become bigger and the families operating them become smaller. He said that the problem was not that the community was drying up within city limits, but the school district was losing rural families. Rural bus routes that once produced a load of children are no longer taken because there are no children to pick up.

Hendrickson is developing Sunrise Ridge Estates with lots two to six acres each on the 80 acre development. The land was once farm ground, part of which was already within city limits, and was annexed into the city for development. Hendrickson chose to go with the larger lots and have them zoned for large animals.

“We needed alternatives in our housing,” he said. He noted it was difficult to buy only five acres in the county and wanted to increase housing options for people.

“We’re trying to add some growth,” he said. To attract attention, Hendrickson felt smaller communities need a niche to attract new families.

Schultheis also found that to be true. His said the next development plans will include smaller lots for retired people or new homeowners who can’t afford larger homes and/or don’t want to maintain a large yard.

Schultheis has also developed what was once farm land that was already within city limits. In 2003 Schultheis and brother Greg broke ground on the cropland and started putting in lots for a subdivision. Since then 28 lots have been added. At first they sold only lots, but when contacted by buyers who wanted to move into a home, the brothers started to build houses on some of the properties. They are currently building the third house.

Miller noted Uniontown can attract families that commute to different metro areas. He feels the town’s location halfway between the Moscow-Pullman and Lewiston-Clarkston areas makes it a good place for families to split their commute.

The small town appeal for those looking to get out of urban area also works in the small towns’ favors. Miller noted the development could also draw people looking to get into a rural setting, but not have the problems and hassles of living in the country.

“We know we have a really nice little town,” he said.

Despite all the developments, small towns are not about to be inundated with empty lots and houses. The Rolling Hills development has a total of 40 lots on 25 acres, but Miller noted only 15 lots are currently being development with paving and water system installed and other lots will be developed as they sell. He felt the ideal population for Uniontown would be 400 to 600; a number which would support the town and attract business.

Schultheis aims for sales of three or four houses a year, hoping to sell at least one a quarter.

With the increase of families and people, an increase in business is anticipated.

“More people will always influence the community,” said Hendrickson.

Miller also pointed out that more citizens means more people who can volunteer to help out in the community. Each lot that sells also increases the city’s tax revenue with connection fees and property taxes.

“But you’ve got to have people first,” Schultheis said.

EC Hay & Sons is building a development in Tekoa, but could not be reached for comment before press time.

Quote of the Day

[University of Idaho biology graduate student Chris Looney] added the rush to have the [giant Palouse earth]worm listed as an endangered species was brought on by fear of urban sprawl striking the Palouse.

If groups like the Palouse Prairie Foundation and other groups would have used less aggressive tactics, especially in light of slow growth trends, they may have been able to curry more support from farmers, he added.

- "One percent left: Grad students seek to save Palouse prairie remnants," Whitman County Gazette, May 1, 2008

Looney was part of cross-discipline study of the biological and sociological value of the Palouse Prairie funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The results of the study were presented to the Whitman County commissioners last Monday.

At least the truth about the giant Palouse earthworm has come out, and as usual, it has nothing to with science.

"Hawkins planning to break ground; Company to begin work on development as soon as land dries out"

When that first shovel of dirt is turned at the Hawkins development, things will change on the Palouse forever. We will finally break the iron grip of the anti-growthniks.

Hawkins represents all that they despise: "sprawl," big boxes, chain stores, automobile-based development, crass consumerism, and most of all, capitalism and free enterprise. But the leftists in both Pullman and Moscow were infected with Wal-Mart Derangement Syndrome and Hawkins slipped in under the radar. Queen Nancy's single-handed efforts to stop Hawkins were easily undone by a single election.

Now, a shopping devleopment three times the size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter is going in and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. What a great feeling! I only hope I can be there for the groundbreaking.

From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Hawkins Companies officials expect to begin moving dirt for its 714,000-square-foot retail development just west of the Idaho border by the start of summer.

"The target is June 1, but if the land dries out it will be before that," company spokesman Jeff DeVoe said. "We've got two years of moving dirt ahead, so we've got to get moving."

A ground-breaking ceremony will take place once construction equipment has arrived on site, but an exact date has not been set, DeVoe said.

Several national retail chains have expressed interest in locating at the shopping center, even in the face of a struggling national economy. However, only one tenant - Lowe's - has formally committed to date.

DeVoe said the company expects the Lowe's store to be open in late summer or early fall 2009.

DeVoe said Hawkins doesn't anticipate any issues arising that could derail the project, considering water has been secured and a deal has been reached with Whitman County to finance public infrastructure for the development.

"At this point I don't think so," DeVoe said. "We are sitting ready to go."

Whitman County Commissioner Michael Largent expressed appreciation for Hawkins and its commitment to locating in the county.

"I am very pleased. This is a culmination of a long process," Largent said. "The Hawkins group and Jeff DeVoe worked very hard to bring this project ahead.

"We are very happy to see the project proceeding."

The county will benefit directly from the development in the form of increased sales and property taxes, and indirectly from other developers planning to follow in Hawkins' footsteps. Largent said Moscow business owner Travis Wambeke - who plans to develop a 15-acre business park on Airport Road - indicated his decision to locate in the Moscow-Pullman corridor was influenced by Hawkins.

"I don't think Hawkins is the end of the story," Largent said. "We are excited about the economic development and other opportunities this will bring."

"Some growth is better than none"

One more time, with emphasis. There is no "urban sprawl" on the Palouse. There is no "runaway growth" on the Palouse. The 2006-2007 population data just released from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the Pullman and Moscow micropolitan areas are growing the slowest of any urban area in Washington and Idaho respectively, two very fast-growing states.

Our problem is just the opposite of "sprawl." We cannot "afford to be choosy" as some advocate. We cannot allow unproven concerns over a poorly understood water source be the nails in the coffins of our two towns. We cannot let the Palouse become a social engineering laboratory for academics and students who will be somewhere else in five or ten years. Instead, we had better do everything we can to encourage growth and roll out the red carpet to any business that wants to locate here. As UI prof Jeff Harkins always says, towns grow or they die. This is the conclusion the Daily News editorial board reached in a column published in last Thursday's edition:

Growth has long been a controversial topic in Moscow and Pullman.

Some want it at any expense, others would like the status quo maintained in perpetuity.

We think the correct approach is somewhere in the middle, and that's why recently released statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau are cause for concern.

The Moscow and Pullman "micropolitan" areas - urban cores of 10,000-50,000 people and the surrounding counties - grew 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively, from mid-2006 to mid-2007.

That's not far from negative 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent, and that's what is most troubling.

Negative growth would cause a downturn in the local economy, resulting in the loss of jobs and local businesses and forcing some residents to leave the area in search of other opportunities.

Stagnation might produce similar results considering the basic cost of living - gas, groceries, energy - is only going to rise. Money to offset that rise is needed in the form of new jobs and residents.

Further complicating matters is declining enrollment at the University of Idaho. There currently are 9,980 students enrolled at the UI's Moscow campus, down 702 students from fall 2006.

UI economist Steve Peterson said there's a direct correlation between the number of students and the number of jobs in the area.

"If you're down 1,000 students, you can figure a loss between 500 and 1,000 jobs anywhere in the region," he said.

Imagine what would happen if Washington State University saw a similar decrease in enrollment.

A number of area business leaders and elected officials are encouraging growth, and residents need to get on board if they want their children and grandchildren to be able to live and work on the Palouse when they grow up, graduate and enter the work force.

The speed and direction in which the area expands might not agreeable to everyone, but growth at any pace is a far cry better than no growth at all.

"Protest only served prof's cause"

It's official: Ayad Rahmani's "architorture" protest was a big flop. The only thing he succeeded in doing was igniting a debate on teaching methods, not community planning. Hopefully, we've seen the first and last of these arrogant spectacles.

This is Steve McClure's op-ed on behalf of the entire editorial staff that appeared in yesterday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Washington State University professor Ayad Rahmani's faux-protest along Bishop Boulevard played into all the less-desirable stereotypes of a town-gown controversy.

If that was his goal, he succeeded.

Anything beyond that, however, and his gathering students to protest the design of buildings and sidewalks in the developing area of southern Pullman was little more than a publicity stunt.

He argues students didn't have to participate in the March 27 protest, which took place during the regularly scheduled class period. Those who wanted to write a paper arguing their position could receive the same credit.

We find that a bit hollow since most students will choose the path of least resistance - in this case, joining a hundred classmates for a cup of coffee and a picket.

There are hundreds of ways for students at WSU to become engaged in their community. Dropping by a parking lot for a protest two months before graduation hardly ranks near the top of the list.

Those 100 students could have spent that same class hour working with practicing architects to discover how to incorporate the desired aesthetics into an architectural rendering that works for a paying client.

If Rahmani wanted to give his students a strong life lesson, he should send them to planning commission meetings for a sense of how architects and developers work through the process. That also might give those students an idea of the challenges people confront when it comes time to develop property.

A two-mile stretch of road doesn't suddenly convert into a vibrant business district with a wave of a wand - it takes money and usually happens over a period of years.

In other words, teach these students what it will be like when they're pitching their plans to the people who will be financing the construction of their creative vision.

"WSU investigating 'architorture' protest; Demonstration organized by architecture prof causes concern among administrators, community members"

Rush has got "Operation Chaos." What should we call this?

Last week, I urged Palousitics readers to e-mail WSU president Elson Floyd about architecture professor Ayad Rahmani's "architorture" protest on Bishop Blvd. Apparently, we got results!!

That makes two victories this week, along with Ed Weber's proposal for more intellectual diversity at WSU. Let's keep up the pressure and take our campus and our town back from the academic extremists!!

From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Washington State University administrators are investigating a professor's conduct following a protest in Pullman last week.

Ken Vreeland, special assistant to the provost and executive vice president, said his office has received several e-mails from community members concerned about architecture professor Ayad Rahmani's role in a March 27 protest with more than 100 of his students on Bishop Boulevard.

"We are aware of the concerns and are reviewing them," Vreeland said.

Rahmani encouraged students in his sophomore-level architecture class to protest the lack of continuity, planning and design along the boulevard. He said the protest was relevant to the course work, which studies the built environment and includes buildings, infrastructure, sustainability and design elements and how they create a community.

Students carried signs that read "Stop Architorture in Pullman" and "The Show Starts on the Sidewalk" in the protest, which took place during a regularly scheduled class period. Participation in the protest was optional for the 200 students enrolled in the class. Credit was given to students who protested, as well as those who didn't as long as they justified their position in writing.

Rahmani said the protest was intended to pinpoint city planning issues "respectfully, not controversially."

"I made it clear to the students that this is a democratic option. This is not something that they have to do," he said. "I told them that, but I did say, 'I would like you to do it, to show the principles of the class.' I thought I really needed to do something to show the students what I'm talking about."

Vreeland said many WSU classes expect students to participate in community service or interdisciplinary learning projects.

"We encourage that ... but we expect that they're inclusive of different views and use sound education practices," he said

Vreeland said he is in the information-gathering stage of the investigation, collecting facts about the protest and the course work itself. Rahmani eventually will be interviewed, though no reprimand is expected at this time.

"It would be premature to say we're taking any action against the instructor," Vreeland said. "Right now, we're going to take a look at what we can learn from this."

Rahmani said he's not aware of any concern that has surfaced in the community.

"I think I did everything according to the rules," he said. "I may have done something new, but as a teaching method I think it was significant. It got students to talk and ask questions that weren't there before."

In Rahmani's opinion, the protest was a success if the community still is talking about it one week later.

"Obviously, that's why I did it," he said. "I wanted the students to perk up ... but also the community and the developers to know that people do care and it's important to do something about it."

The only thing that it is important to "do something about" is you Professor Rahmani. Hopefully after this, no other WSU professors will be tempted to take their liberal fascist agenda to the streets of Pullman at taxpayer expense.

Quote of the Year

There is no really good area outside of what’s on campus.

- WSU architecture professor Ayad Rahmani passsing judgment on Pullman, "Architecture students protest on Bishop Boulevard," The Daily Evergreen, April 1, 2008

Rahmani hopes his imperious and insulting comments will "generate some intelligent discussion."

Runner-Up:

Each building is completely independent from one another

Quote of the Day

Angela Congdon thinks the city of Pullman could have done better when planning Bishop Boulevard.

The 21-year-old Washington State University student said the boulevard's box stores (?) and strip malls add no quality to the Pullman community and detract from the well-planned, pedestrian-friendly downtown area.

"There's no cohesion," she said of recent construction along the boulevard. "Everything is random."

[...]

Congdon, who came to Pullman from the north Seattle area, said she likely wouldn't have initiated the protest without Rahmani's leadership. But she wanted to leave her mark on Pullman, since she soon will leave town to finish her degree at WSU-Spokane.

-"Students protest city's 'architorture'," Moscow-Pullman Daily News, March 28, 2008

Bye Angela. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Don't forget to e-mail Professor Ayad Rahmani at arahmani@wsu.edu and WSU President Elson Floyd at floyde@wsu.edu and let them how you feel about the taxpayer-funded insulting of Pullman during "Cougar Pride Days."

The Rantings of an Arrogant and Contemptuous Jerk

Your blood will boil when you read what elitist WSU archictecture prof Ayad Rahmani wrote in an op-ed that appeared in the October 27, 2007 issue of WSU Today. Some quotes:

WSU’s claims to “world-class” status, while true, ultimately ring hollow because the reality finds no match with those statements. World-class ambitions cannot be met with low-class ideas. High-class faculty will refuse to live in scattered and inconsequential buildings. [And after all, it's only the "high-class" faculty that matter in this town. The rest of us are just low-class. Oh my God. -tf]

The new housing stock in Pullman sadly represents the worst of the effects of a market economy; it has neither respect for art or the environment — or for that matter the fact that within a short walk there is an architecture school with graduates who have gone on to change the world. [So what's stopping them for developing houses with respect for "art and the enivonment?"? Oh yeah, money. It's much easier to tell someone else how to spend theirs. - tf]

Rather than taking clues from cities such as Portland and Seattle — whose architects and developers have joined forces to create a denser and more community friendly environment [and that obsession with "density and community friendly environment" has added $200,000 to the average price of a Seattle home - tf] — Pullman developers have made more suburbs. These offensive McMansions, with garages looking onto the streets, use materials and planning that are highly wasteful and unsustainable. [You mean like wood, which is a renewable crop? Concrete? Seems to me there is a virtually infinite supply of sand and gravel. Vinyl, which can be recycled? What's wasteful and unsustainable? - tf]

Rather than building inward and promoting walking and bicycling, these suburbs force those who live in them to use their cars. And rather than building with materials that have a low-carbon footprint and reflect an inventive approach to scarcity, these same suburbs persist with a cookie-cutter mentality. [So why did Pullman just get nationally recognized as a "pedestrian-oriented" city? And where in the hell are we going to build "inward" in Pullman??????? College Hill?? Downtown?? There's no room left but at the periphery of town. But in any case, there is no "suburb" in town that is more than two miles from the WSU campus. What a joke to call that "sprawl." And that "cookie-cutter mentality" is otherwise known as "affordable family housing." How dare you insult my home as "cookie-cutter" when that is all I can afford, you snobby asshole. - tf]

The university also cannot rely on the town to resolve this problem; the town is too bogged down in trying to increase tax revenues to worry about the role of architecture in improving matters. The university must lead the way in not only improving its own grounds but in transforming the town. [Oh sure. The poor townies are so plebeian wanting to pay the bills for parks, police, fire and emergency services, schools, etc., etc. Let the highly-educated solons take over. I have read some elitist and snobby crap before, but this takes the cake. - tf]

"Urban Sprawl" in Pullman?

Nope, not according to the U.S. Census Bureau:

Many of Washington's metropolitan areas have grown substantially since 2000, with the Tri-Cities, Bellingham and Olympia showing the highest percentage growth, the Census Bureau reported today.

The state's smaller communities, called micropolitan areas, also showed solid growth, the agency said.

[...]

Micropolitan areas also showed steady growth. Ellensburg grew 15.5 percent and Shelton 14.1 percent between 2000 and 2007.

Moses Lake, with 83,047 residents, was the largest of those and grew 11.2 percent. Pullman (1.2 percent) had the smallest growth rate.

In fact, Pullman had the smallest growth rate of all metropolitan and micropolitan areas in Washington.

Urban Sprawl or Urban Decay?

So if WSU Professor Ayad Rahmani and his "volunteer" student protesters think these new developments on Bishop Blvd. represent "architorture" and "urban sprawl":







Then what do they think about this urban decay along Pullman's most traveled and visible road, Grand Avenue?:









Perhaps rather than advancing an elitist, liberal fascist political agenda, a better extra credit project would be volunteering the students' expertise/labor to refurbish/demolish these dilipidated structures, the true archictectural "eyesores" in Pullman. How about a carwash or bake sale to raise money for the Grand Avenue Greenway project?

"WSU class protests Pullman sprawl"

How unbelievably repugnant. An elitist professor bribes students who are not even from Pullman to go out and protest supposed "sprawl." They don't even know what "sprawl" really is. If those students are unhappy with the economic development that helps pay for the police, fire, streets, water, sewer, bus service, etc. that they enjoy, then they are more than welcome to run for City Council and effect a change. Perhaps they could actually even show up at a City Council meeting or Planning Commission meeting. But Bishop Blvd. is being developed in accordance with the city's Comprehensive Plan as determined by our democratically-elected representatives.

The good professor and his students are also more than welcome to purchase a lot on Bishop and build their own "sustainable" structure if they choose. Until then, they should just shut up and stop meddling in things they nothing about. These kinds if things only exacerbate tensions between the university and the town and build resentment towards students and professors.

I encourage you to register your disapproval of this agenda-advancing cheap stunt to Professor Rahmani at: arahmani@wsu.edu and WSU President Elson Floyd at floyde@wsu.edu. Let's clog their inboxes with our indignation at our town being used as some social engineering laboratory.

From Dnews.com:

A group of more than 100 Washington State University students protested building sprawl on Bishop Boulevard Thursday morning.

Enrolled in an Architecture 202 class taught by Ayad Rahmani, the students carried signs proclaiming “Stop Architorture in Pullman” and “The Show Starts on the Sidewalk.” The group’s purpose was to promote sustainable structures and growth, not haphazardly constructed strip malls and big box stores.

“There’s no cohesion,” said 21-year old WSU student Angela Congdon. “Everything is random.”

Participation in the protest was optional for the roughly 200 students enrolled in the class. Extra credit was given to students who protested, as well as those who didn’t — as long as they justified their position in writing.

By Any Other Name

In the August 22, 2005 edition of the New York Times, Jennifer Guyot wrote:

Victims of Eric R. Rudolph, the bomber who attacked the 1996 Olympics and two abortion clinics, said he seemed different at his sentencing today.

In contrast to the defiant terrorist who had declared himself "bloodied but emphatically unbowed," even as he agreed to plead guilty, Mr. Rudolph - who was sentenced to life in prison, as expected - was subdued and even apologetic.

Now compare that with what John Holusha wrote on the Times blog The Lede about yesterday's econut attack in Seattle where several houses under construction were burned down:

For people who are anti-sprawl activists — or have baser motives — a new-built house sitting empty in a previously rural area evidently makes a ripe target for an attack by fire.

[...]

Environmental activists were initially suspected in a rash of fires in southern Maryland in late 2004 that destroyed 12 houses and damaged a total of 40. The houses were part of a 300-house development that drew complaints from environmentalists, both local and national, because it would “destroy a forest adjacent to state-preserved wildlands and severely degrade one of Maryland’s largest magnolia bogs.”

So, according to the Times, if you bomb an abortion clinic, you're a "terrorist." Burn down a house to stop "urban sprawl," you're merely an "activist." The left-wing Seattle Slimes was also guilty of similar prevarication.

Check out some of the comments on the blog:

I find it hard to condemn these arsons - unchecked development and urban sprawl are not only an enviromental problem but they also constitue a safety issue (see the San Diego fires last year). As long as they don’t harm people but only gredy companies’ profit or assets, it seems to me that these actions are morally justifiable, even if illegal.

thank god…. at least someone in this country cares enough to take action.

perhaps its not the best way to act or show civil disobedience…. I agree with the comment about them ultimately doing the evil developers they’re trying to hurt nothing more than a financial favor that is relieving them of an economic burden/liability.

but…. i’m glad that not all americans are playing playstation, watching orpah, and eating themselves into a motorized wheelchair. its inspiring to know that there are still some Americans who actually care enough to take a direct action against something that is killing the environment.

mcmansions are the epitome of our nation’s narcissism and obsession with opulence.

I disagree with those who say this is an idiotic act. First of all, it has spurred a conversation between citizens of our country - and I see that a large percentage of those people commenting seem to be ambivalent about whether these acts are “terrorism”, which means this is a conversation we ought to have. I think acts such as these, which only harm empty buildings and their developers (who are insured) - and which do not harm people or animals - tend to make a larger point about where this society is heading and whether all of us wish to head there. To those who argue that this act created more environmental damage than leaving the homes alone, I would argue that the pollutants released in a fire like this amount to much less carbon emissions than those which are released when the homes are occupied, electricity turned on 365 days a year, SUV’s in the driveway and all the electronics turned on. I think in this day and age of the government monitoring us and renditioning us and holding us without charges, that it is quite interesting to see that there are people brave enough to risk being labelled “terrorist” in order to stand up for something they believe in and do something which is obviously more skin to vandalism than terrorism.

Scary.

P.S. - This housing development was initially opposed because, wait for it, of worries over the local aquifer.

P.P.S - Be sure to check out the editorial in today's Daily Watermelon that claims that "human society continues to commit atrocities against other sentient creatures" (i.e. cows.)

Snobler's List

Liberal Moscow gadfly Vera White took a gratuitous swipe at Whitman County in her column in the Daily News last Friday:

A recent posting on V2020 caught the INKster's eye, so she Googled the mentioned Web site to check it out. Earlier this month, The Progressive Farmer magazine released a list of the "Best Places to Live in Rural America." Each year, the rankings name the top-10 rural counties and profile each in the magazine. This year, Kent County, Md., was awarded top honors.

The magazine also listed the top 500 rural counties by region, and the INKster was pleased to learn some of the surrounding counties made the top 100 list in the Western Region.

Nez Perce County ranked No. 11 in Idaho, with Kootenai County No. 23 and Latah County coming in at No. 55. Asotin County in Washington ranked No. 70, but as the V2020 poster noted, "neither Whitman nor Spokane counties cracked the top 100."

As those chamber of commerce types continue to note, "things are lookin' good in the Valley."

So just what is a "Progressive Farmer" you may ask? (as well as why, since "Crime" is a ranking factor, did Latah County with a murder rate last year greater than most large U.S. cities rank as #55, but I digress.)

I read what the magazine had to say about its top rated place to live, Kent County, MD:

By all reasoning, Kent County should be covered with homes, strip malls and "farmettes." But it's not. Not anywhere close. [And Kootenai County is #23 by this standard? Go figure. - tf]

Instead, Kent County is a rare holdout in the sprawl and development in this country that clearly is out of control. Kent County maintains a culture of farming, wildlife, and small towns and villages that are relatively untouched.

For a county to be in our Best Places list, we hold them to the usual standards—good schools, health care, safety and other desirable qualities. But what makes Kent County stand out is its residents' resolve to maintain a solid rural heritage. At the foundation of that effort is farmland preservation, something that started decades ago with foresight, cooperation and some far-sighted planning.

Then it became readily apparent to me. A "Progressive Farmer" must be a wealthy, well-educated escapee from some big city that lusts after open spaces and breathtaking views and is willing to deprive the locals of their progress and property rights in order to keep it. It's just the old elitist, drawbridge mentality.

I'm frankly very happy glad Whitman County didn't make such a snobby list.

Quote of the Day

Let's all move to Idaho. Then maybe we can select where we want to live and how we want to get to work.

- State Senator Joe Zarelli (R-Ridgefield) on State Senator Chris Marr's (D-Spokane) SB 6580 which paves the way to requiring that local land-use regulations be based on reduction of "greenhouse gases." The measure passed in the Seante and is now being considered by the House.

"Time to throw the rotten so-and-so's out"

Another classic column from Michael O'Neal in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

It's hard to keep crybabies quiet.

The back story to this scrap of wisdom runs thus. An out-of-area developer, the Hawkins Companies, wants to put in a retail development just west of Moscow. Five Moscow councilmen, three of them recently elected after running on an openly pro-business platform, are now officially a nefarious cabal, the "Hawkins Five," dubbed so on this page because they voted to sell water to the developer after closed-door mediations.

Now the United States has this thing called representative government. Voters, expressing preferences at the polls, elect people to office, then turn over to those people decision-making authority. That way, everything doesn't become a referendum. Every time a decision has to be made, we don't have to run to the polls, or sit in hothouse meeting halls picking up the flu from the guy with the wet cough behind us.

But there's a class of people in Moscow who don't like representative government, for it gives misguided little people license to vote. Those voters in turn have the temerity to elect to office candidates who are not aging hippies whose notion of economic development is coffee stands (which use water) and tattoo parlors.

What's their problem? For starters, the developers are from Boise. That must mean they're curly-mustachioed, cigar-chomping carpetbaggers, in town to offer the rest of us 40 acres and a mule in exchange for our water. Reasonably, though, the developers believe that business owners might want to tidy up after us and that employees and shoppers should wash their hands after flushing.

But these are all salutary activities. People would presumably be doing them anyhow, somewhere (one hopes), thus using water from the same aquifer, unless of course they're really good at holding it so they can go use water from someone else's aquifer. But then they'd be burning gas, melting the polar ice caps, and drowning the giant Palouse earthworm - the point being that we all exist, so every single one of us uses resources no matter what we do and where we do it. And if we don't have to leave carbon footprints between here and Lewiston or Spokane to do it, something's been gained.

Further, these establishments might sell things people actually want, need, and can afford, without turning to the Internet, as many currently do, thus shipping away dollars and the tax revenues they generate. It's likely that most of the products they'd sell won't be made of hemp or bamboo - or made in co-ops redolent with patchouli. So that means they represent sprawl.

The usual gambit employed by people who don't like a decision is to grumble about process. Closed doors for them are always a bad sign, as they are for my cat. But as I've tried to explain to my cat, mediations are always closed. People are more inclined to mediate (another salutary activity) when they know that a card they show behind closed doors won't get trumped later in a lawsuit.

So the crybabies, who didn't get their way in the last City Council election, want to "recall" the newly elected councilmen. They intone solemnly that there should have been more "public discussion" and that the Hawkins Five (one quakes at the very name) has "betrayed the public trust" - by doing what the little people elected them to do. Of course, the process included no vigorous "public discussion" when the mayor unilaterally filed a petition to quash Hawkins, but this mote of hypocrisy escapes the notice of the hemp-and-bamboo crowd.

Meanwhile, the little people are cattle. We're told that the councilmen who voted in Hawkins' favor were "ushered into office by the Greater Moscow Alliance," more cigar-chompers bent on selling off the Palouse in pieces to the highest bidders. Many of us little people find smug, elitist comments like this a slap in the face. The council members were ushered into office not by the GMA but by the citizens who chose to vote for them. The GMA didn't even exist when two of the Hawkins lapdogs were elected.

But the voters, lobotomized by the GMA, were wrong. The people the voters voted for voted in favor of something some people don't like. So of course we must throw the sonsabitches out.

Get out the (organic) teething biscuits.