Not happy that his 49th ward is suffering from no economic development, Alderman Moore just crippled another part of the city's economic engine with his fancy 'Big Box' ordinance.
Alderman Moore's first casualty wasn't Wal-Mart, it is Target. According to the Chicago Sun-Times today, Target is pulling the plug and not going to build a store in the city.
Not only is the 34th ward going to suffer, most likely the 46th ward will suffer with the Wilson Yards project expecting a Target too. Funny thing, like some coward, Alderman Shiller didn't vote on the 'Big Box' issue - showing no backbone to the cause. Now Shiller's not talking to the press.
So, forget about no Wal-Mart and no Foie Gras, they aren't the issues today. But it does make you wonder... Who's next Alderman Moore? Who are you going to force out of the city next? Oh, I almost forgot. If you keep this up, you're going to force us taxpaying homeowners out of the city with higher property taxes, right?
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Boxed out: Target says forget it
August 3, 2006
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
"Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) ... said. I need sales tax revenue and jobs. How do I pull my community out of the slump that it's in? How do we get a rebirth? Sales tax revenue. That's how."
Why is an alderman suddenly such a champion of sales tax revenue? What is this intimate relationship she sees between urban renewal in her ward and sales tax revenue? Sales taxes from the 34th don't go into a 34th revitilization fund, far from it. It's pretty clear she is spouting from a talking points fax that she only vaguely understands.
During the Living Wage Ordinance controversey, we never heard COSTCO complain. Why is that? Because they pay better wages and benefits than that Big Box Bully called Wal-Mart.
Frankly, municipal government is the wrong level of government for a Living Wage Law. Springfield should call Wal-Mart and Target's bluff,and make it a State law.
Once again, if you want the minimum wage to be raised, then raise it across the board. However, don't bitch when business think twice about opening up shop.Or prices increase
BigBox Ord. High School kids getting their frist job, do not need $10/hr plus benifits.
This entire issue is about the Unions not being able to break these stores. So they go above the store's heads to the idiot aldermen who will do anything for enough money.
Finally, a COSTCO store only employs a hand full of employees compared to a Target.
For anyone who think the boxBox mess is a good idea. Go back to school and take some business/economic classes.
"High School kids getting their frist job, do not need $10/hr plus benifits"
That presumes these high school kids don't come from a family where one or more parents is disabled and can't work.
There are lots of teenagers in that situation.
No matter where Target or Wal-Mart builds, we Chicago taxpayers will pay for the workers Medicaid benefits.
Bon soir, Target! The 46th Ward doesn't need you nor do we want you.
And please take Helen Shiller with you when you leave the city!
How many Target Superstores can Chicago absorb? Sometimes I don't understand the obsession with these "big box" stores. I didn't move to Chicago so that it would turn into a shopping mall. If a Target was built in Uptown there would be a store every three miles.
Addison and Sacramento Ave, Wilson and Brodway Ave, and finally the newly opened Peterson and Damen Ave location (which used to be Kmart). 4 years ago the closest Target was at Logan Square Blvd and Elston Ave. Does every neighborhood really need a Target?
Wal-Mart Foes Hop a Bandwagon
Business Week
AUGUST 2, 2006
By Pallavi Gogoi
Excerpt:
Ask Santa Fe (N.M.) mayor David Coss about taking on big business to benefit people in his community and he'll tell you it's not easy. He started trying to boost the minimum wage in Santa Fe back in 2000, after seeing the growing disparity in wages in the 1990s and an increasing number of people in poverty despite a healthy economy. It wasn't until 2004 that a measure was pushed into law, raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour. Even then, several business groups sued and stopped implementation of the measure. The law went into effect only last year, after the lawsuit was quashed.
Still, Coss has no doubt that the battle was worth it. He says that workers are paid more and none of the negative repercussions, predicted by critics, have come about. "The business community warned that they would leave Santa Fe and that we'd ignite inflation in Santa Fe. None of that happened. Instead, big box retailer Lowe's opened a store, and Wal-Mart, which already has one store, plans to open a super center," he says.
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