Smoky Mountain News

To the Editor:

The dollar signs twinkling in the aldermen’s eyes were glaringly visible at the town of Franklin meeting last night. Clearly the advent of this unnecessary Wal-Mart is a forgone conclusion, evidenced by the limited debate to only the issues of size of store footprint and size of signage.

Of course, what else can you expect from a town and county so eager for short-term tax dollar earnings that they forget the long-term value of caring for the natural attractions of our area.  These are real values that draw people to the mountains.  Witness the lack of understanding placed on the intrinsic value of the river that runs through town in favor of the “ambiance” of the unsightly basic McDonalds and other businesses that could capitalize on that site, not contaminate it.

I seriously doubt that people find a super-huge, ill-located, Wal-Mart a reason or a draw to visit our location. Wal-Mart can be found in way too many areas, not to mention the fact that the one we have is more than sufficient for our locality.

Proponents of yet another Wal-Mart insist that competition is good. But the fact remains that others cannot compete with Wal-Mart mega-buying power. Yes, perhaps true competition does motivate other merchants to bettering their arenas, but this takeover of American towns, cities, roads and byways — not to mention some folks’ skewed value systems — is not competition, it is monopoly.  

Shirley Ches

Franklin