A spirited crowd of over 100 people attended the Ellenville-Wawarsing Chamber of Commerce (EWCOC) meeting to discuss issues related to Wal-Mart's possible acquisition of the former Napanoch Valley Mall site now owned by Joe Tso. The meeting took place on Wednesday, April 25 in the Ellenville Central School's Elementary School Auditorium.

Holly Houghtaling, President of the EWCOC, brought the meeting to order and explained the rules, then introduced Dr. Vern Lindquist, a professor of philosophy from Sullivan County Community College, who had volunteered to be the moderator.

Three panelists were supposed to represent those with a "pro-Wal-Mart" and "anti- Wal-Mart" point of view. Each panelist was provided with five minutes to state their positions and then two additional minutes were provided to field questions from the audience.

Representing those who support the retail giant were: Lisa Webb, a local business owner and a spokesperson for a recently created economic development group, and Richard Peterson, a former insurance agent from Newburgh. A third pro-Wal-Mart panelist, Nancy Richards of the Heart of the Catskills Chamber of Commerce, was unable to attend the event due to an injury suffered earlier in the day.

Representing the "anti-Wal-Mart" crowd were Steve Krulick, a Village of Ellenville Village trustee and creator of the organization, Wawarsing-Ellenville Responsible Development (WERD), Jen Fuentes, who represented the AFL-CIO and union positions, and Susan Zimet, former Town Supervisor for New Paltz and current Ulster County legislator. Ms. Zimet was involved in a successful effort defeat a proposed Wal-Mart in the New Paltz area.

Because Ms. Richards was unavailable for the question and answer period, Ms. Zimet elected not to participate in that part of the evening so that each side would have equal representation.

Things quickly took on a slightly surreal atmosphere. Or maybe there was a touch of the "carnival" in the room as it seemed that, for a number of those in attendance, this was their first ever Chamber of Commerce meeting and Ms. Houghtaling was forced to call for quiet on several occasions.

Lisa Webb spoke briefly, concisely and made points that resonated with a sizable part of the crowd. At every mention of her chosen "Freedom to choose" message, a crowd at the back of the room erupted in cheers.

In stark contrast, Steve Krulick, almost seemed ready to explode with the information and statistics he had compiled (see http://www.w-e-r-d.org) and as it turned out, Mr. Krulick was only able to complete an answer or a statement once within the allotted time period during the entire meeting.

Fuentes made several early points regarding Wal-Mart's 1.8 million workers: that they are poorly paid, poorly treated and today they even face salary caps. The Walton family, owners of Wal-Mart, are the richest Americans in existence and vie with the Saudi Royal family, Roman Abramovic and Queen Elizabeth II for the title of the world's wealthiest-humans.

Then came Richard Peterson, whose offering of a steady diet of populist phrases about liberty and well-honed Bible quotes proved the hit of the evening, especially with those who were new to Chamber of Commerce meetings.

The format of the meeting involved written questions taken from the audience and read out by the moderator. The panelists then addressed these questions for two minutes apiece.

Things rapidly settled into their groove. Webb hammered away at her chosen positions with persistence. Fuentes slowly seemed to lose heart in the face of cat calls from that part of the crowd who felt that "any job's better than none." Krulick fizzed and bubbled with alarming statistics and anti-Wal-Mart arguments, while Peterson iced the cake with weird little stories about boats or Newburgh that always digressed, and then digressed again before winding up with some pithy quote from Ecclesiastes.

And, as if the audience wasn't already adrift in the stream, at one point Ms. Houghtaling read out a stream of Wal-Mart statistics that had been supplied by the retail giant itself. There are, it seems, 44 "supercenters" already in New York, as well as 17 Sam's Clubs. Supercenters average 185,000 square feet and contain around 142,000 items. In the last year, Wal-Mart paid $66.7 million in state and local taxes and contributed just over $2.5 million to local causes and organizations in New York.

Wal Mart's global sales in 2005 were $312.4 billion.

Later, Ms. Houghtaling said that, "Wal Mart would have sent someone to represent them at the meeting, but they said that the situation was premature for that kind of involvement." At this time it is not known where Mr. Tso is in his negotiations with Wal-Mart for the derelict mall property.

Afterwards James Dolaway, Wawarsing's Town Supervisor, said, "I think the meeting went well. People were able to express their thoughts. I hope people went away from the meeting more informed."

Mr. Dolaway agreed, however, that there would be no direct tax benefit to the Village of Ellenville from a Wal-Mart Supercenter at the Napanoch Valley Mall, but he went on to note that the Village would get something in the shape of a small percentage of the sales taxes collected by Ulster County. He also noted that, at this point, it remains unknown as to whether there will actually be a move by Wal-Mart to acquire the site.

Ms. Houghtaling, who organized the event in conjunction with the rest of the chamber members, noted that, "What I didn't hear said is that, generally speaking, anyone should have the right to sell legal goods to whomever they want to, but they don't have the right to build whatever they might want to. The Chamber of Commerce isn't about to try to stop anybody coming to our area to start a business or bring a business in. We're all about encouraging business. But our town needs to make conscious decisions about these things to encourage sensible growth."

Audience member Cathy Lake offered her opinion, saying, "I think Wal-Mart would be a great help to this area. Because there isn't any work around here. The less fortunate depend on welfare and Section 8 and food stamps and a lot of these businesses wouldn't be hurt as much as they think. It may hurt some, but they wouldn't have to close their stores. And it would save a lot of people from traveling 35 miles to other towns. This town is a ghost town. There's so many empty houses, and people are moving out. Because there aren't any jobs."

Aye, there's the rub. Ellenville is clearly heading for some big changes. Some people will be leaving, others will be arriving. Will there be a Wal-Mart Supercenter here? Maybe, maybe not.

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