The Hearing Meeting Structure is Biased to Favor Wal-Mart

The meeting structure that the city has proposed is biased to favor Wal-Mart.

The normal way to have a hearing is to have every person go up and say their issue. There are no "sides", just individuals stating their issues to their representatives.

The proposed structure is to have a 30 minute period for "SOC", a 30 minute period for "Wal-Mart/PRIDE", and then open it up to other speakers. This will give the false impression that SOC is the same size as PRIDE. SOC is larger than PRIDE.

If the structure were the normal format, it would become immediately obvious that there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of people willing to speak against the project. The proponents would have far smaller numbers, and some will be Wal-Mart workers they'll bring over to speak on the company's behalf.

I, for one, refuse to participate in this spectacle. I will not speak under the banner of SOC. I will speak for myself, with the crowd.

John Kawakami