Recall Effort Serves As Referendum On Wal-Mart

LETTERS

Recall effort serves as referendum on Wal-Mart

The Saline community is being given a wonderful opportunity to observe and participate in true grass-roots democracy through the efforts of fellow citizens from Pittsfield Community First and A New Pittsfield. Whether you oppose a Super Wal-Mart being built so close to school property, whether you welcome the added shopping opportunities or whether you believe or do not believe that the traffic congestion will be a nightmare, the efforts of those community activists will give the thousands of voters of Pittsfield an excellent opportunity to clear the air as to where the community stands, rather than letting only three elected officials make such an important judgment.

Lost in the controversy concerning the effort to recall the Pittsfield supervisor, clerk and treasurer is that should the required number of petition signatures be achieved, the vote on May 2 will be less about any alleged political misconduct but, in reality, become a referendum on the desirability of the Wal-Mart project itself.

A project this large, with the potential for so much downside, should be decided by the citizens most impacted by it. I urge fellow Pittsfield residents to learn all they can about the issue at www.pittsfieldfirst.org and www.anewpittsfield.org, and to sign the recall petitions, if only to once and for all find out which side is on the majority and which side is on the minority. That is the American way.

Mike S. Petraszko, Pittsfield Township