Stop the "super stores"

Editor, Asheville Global Report

A month ago nearly 200 people from our fair city and surrounding environs journeyed to Washington DC, joining in solidarity with thousands of others to shut down the meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. Our voices were strong and our message clear: put an end to corporate exploitation and the deprivations wreaked by these institutions on the environments, economies and human rights of countries around the globe.

Here in Asheville we are faced with a comparable dilemma. Large corporations are intending to move in, razing and paving acres of land in these beautiful mountains to build their unsightly box stores. Small businesses and the livelihoods of many citizens are being threatened by these mega-corporations and their domination of the local economy. Though there will be employment opportunities at the "super" WalMart or the "super" Home Depot, close to 80% of the profits from these businesses flow out of our community.

Asheville DAN encourages those who share these critical concerns about what’s happening in our own back yard to mobilize around this issue. An A-DAN meeting will be held Sunday 21 May, 8:00 pm at the Pink Haus.

Asheville Direct Action Network

Open letter from Co-Op worker

Dear Community and AGR editors,

Though not a letter-writing type, I need to speak out in response to redmoonsong’s call for action regarding the recent decision by the current Co-Op Board of Directors to exclude several candidates from running for the upcoming election. First, I’ve been involved for the past three years in organizing FBFC’s annual elections, and I do not personally support the Board’s decision to exclude Brendan Conley from eligibility. It is clear those who invest in the store thru membership should decide for themselves who best represents the store’s interests. This is clear to folks on the Board as well, and not just the ‘groovy/radical’ people. It’s too late to reverse that decision, if Mr. Conley still is as jazzed about the store when the next opportunity to serve comes up, and the people think him well-suited to the job, I am certain he will have his chance. It was an unfortunate decision but one that can be overcome with time, not aggression.

Understand that there are not only the ‘radical,’ tear-down-the-hierarchy people, and the ‘corporate,’ oppress-the-masses types involved in this struggle. There are plenty of people, on ‘staff,’ in ‘management,’ among what the Teamsters call ‘clerical’ workers like myself, and in the larger community, who feel that each of the many factions has a claim to a piece of the truth. Unfortunately, recent actions on either side have generated more heartbreak than anyone might’ve guessed possible.

Something else to know about the Co-Op elections; it is legally inappropriate for Lola La Fey and Beth Trigg to run together, as they had hoped, as a single Member of the Board; although they each have colorful histories in the recent Union movement at the store, their being refused the chance to run in this configuration is not an issue of being judged for their views. They do not have a joint Household share, with its single legal vote to bring to the table. There is however no legal bar to keep Ms. Trigg from running alone, or to keep Ms. La Fey from running jointly with her partner, as he is already on the Board. I hate to see something like this, which is just a matter of everybody having the correct info and then of pursuing appropriate action, become an incendiary issue when simpler, more peace-loving solutions are so easy to come to. Peaceful resolution to our concerns is what everybody wants, after all.

It is so easy to decide either to be with ‘them,’ or with ‘us.’ It is that old duality popping up again; the mentality that leads to war and genocide. It spares us having to think, to listen to the ‘other side’ when we don’t like what they may be telling us. Truth is not that simple, ever, and that this election situation is a clear-cut example.

I personally have serious concerns about the role that AGR/Mr. Conley have played in creating the maelstrom of hard feelings and struggle for those of us who actually work at the Co-Op. Those reservations don’t mean that I ‘hate’ the individuals involved or that I want to see them disenfranchised; that is contrary to the cooperative principles that we are each agitating to protect. Do let the current Board know that you do not support the decision that was made, and then choose candidates that DO support open elections in the future. Resist the temptation let this become another fiery topic; everyone will have a chance to shape the future of the Co-Op. Please do not repeat the errors of human history by creating a free and open process for everyone and altering the rules when you disagree with the views of others. Realize that someday the shoe will be on the other foot, and the potential candidates may have values that you do not support, and do not presume to shut them out as Mr. Conley has been. It could happen. I have seen so many of the same patterns of crisis at the Co-Op resurface over the years, no matter what the issues, who was on the Board, who was the General Manager, no matter who the activists were; I feel sometimes like an eyewitness to the notion that history repeats itself over and over to the suffering of all.

Thank you for your attention to another perspective.

Sincerely,

Lauren O’Leary,
Services Coordinator and cleric, FBFC

Co-Op corrections

In the article, "Co-op contemplates sudden move," by Zack Finch in last week's Asheville Global Report, some factual errors appeared. For the record,

-- 'Worker-owners" Lola La Fey and Terral Lee Kirk are actually staff.

--A.D. Anderson was a department manager, not the general manager.

--And since the article was written, the building developer of the newly proposed French Broad Food Co-Op location, Harry Pilos, has decided that there won't be any contract stipulation involving a requisite quota of non-organic food to be carried by the store.