Thank you for letting me speak tonight on behalf of the approximately 200 members of the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development, and on behalf of about 5,000 local citizens who have already expressed support for our activities.

We are here tonight with a simple, straightforward message, though one dramatically expressed. We are here not to protest against the City Council, but to protest on behalf of the City Council.

We are here to silently protest the silencing of our elected officials. And the silencing of our elected officials means the citizens of Pullman have been silenced.

Like those early Americans who raised the cry of “no taxation without representation,” we believe it is a deep insult to democracy that our elected officials, the City Council, has had absolutely no role in decision making with regard to the largest retail development proposal ever to face Pullman, a development with far reaching impacts on all citizens of the city and the region.

Not only have our elected officials had no role in evaluation of this almost unimaginably huge project, but they have been told by the City Attorney that were they to speak publicly on the matter, were they to engage in democratic discussion of the matter, they could be subject to personally bankrupting law suits.

So, out of deference to the bank accounts of the council members. I will not even mention the name of the giant corporation in question. But so as not to be misunderstood, a considerable number of Pullman citizens are here to express views silently that will not enter the official meeting record.

As the name our organization makes clear, we are not against development. We are in favor of responsible development, and there are many such responsible developments currently under way that we support. But at present there is one irresponsible development we do not support.

We in the Pullman Alliance are not here tonight to present evidence regarding the potentially quite damaging impact of the unmentionable corporation. That we will do next week in a press conference accompanying the release of a report we are working on regarding the unmentionable retail giant.

That report will explain in detail why we believe the unmentionable corporation is at odds with the values of this community, is a threat to the health, safety and comfort of Pullman citizens, why it is a threat to our local business community, and why this impact will in turn lead to fewer jobs at lower pay for the working folks of the region.

I have in my hand the first installment of petitions expressing strong opposition to the unmentionable corporation. In only five weeks we have gathered over 5000 signatures from local citizens, and we are just beginning our efforts. The petition is directed to the corporation itself, but I would be happy to make copies available to the council if it so desires.

We are also here tonight to let the City Council know that we have filed a legal memo that we believe makes clear that the issue of the unmentionable corporation can legally be referred to the council for review. We urge the council to insist on your right to a role in this decision.

Finally, and most importantly, PARD is introducing tonight the outline of a set of ordinances that if enacted would make it absolutely clear that in the future any such huge developments must be subject to review by our elected representatives, and must be fully open to public discussion by all the citizens of the city. We believe these measures are absolutely necessary if Pullman is to be a fully functioning democracy, and if the citizens are to have an active role in determining the future of our city.

Thank you.

T.V. Reed
For the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development
PO Box 641
Pullman, WA 99163