Local opposition to future Wal-Mart Supercenter in Murphysboro

Nicky Jacobs
Daily Egyptian

Some Murphysboro and Carbondale residents are protesting a new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Murphysboro because they fear it will destroy the town's small businesses and the quality of life for some of its citizens.

Gene Basanta, a professor in the SIU School of Law, said petitions from Jackson County citizens have been circulating and more than 1500 signatures have been collected. "I don't think for the long term Wal-Mart is going to provide much in the way for meaningful economic development," Basanta said. "I don't know any young people whose career goal is to be a sales associate at a Wal-Mart. Most of the kids who grow up in this community aren't going to find that a reason to stay here."

Loosely titled "No-Mart," a group in opposition to the discounter formed a month ago when it was confirmed that the store would be coming to the intersection of Route 13 and Country Club Road in Murphysboro, a town that already has one Wal-Mart. No-Mart participants met together at the Davis McCann Center on North 14th Street earlier this week to discuss possible plans of action against the company. The Murphysboro mayoral forum was being held at the same time, and some No-Mart members decided to attend a part of the forum and ask questions to both candidates about the future Wal-Mart Supercenter. Basanta said he disagreed with what Murphysboro's current mayor Ron Williams had to say about the new Wal-Mart Supercenter.

"The mayor in here tonight said he doesn't think it will have much impact on local businesses," Basanta said. "Why would Wal-Mart be investing in a Super Wal-Mart if they don't think that they're going to draw away from existing businesses significantly?"

Representatives from Wal-Mart's Corporate Headquarters could not be reached, but Murphysboro's mayor has publicly stated that the new Wal-Mart Supercenter will be positive for Murphysboro. Mayor Williams and mayoral candidate Mike Clutts both agree that the store's opening is inevitable. Williams and Clutts said the store will provide jobs and the tax revenue from the store will help the Murphysboro city.

Chris Williams, an SIUC physical plant employee from Murphysboro, said he joined the group because of the affect it will have on his community. "I think within a year or two you'll start to see the impact of Super Wal-Mart," Williams said. "It will literally suck the life out of the smaller businesses and stores that are hanging on."

Williams said he thinks the city council and mayor of Murphysboro have put themselves in a bind where they need a "quick fix." "The city is financially strapped, it needs every single dollar it can get," Williams said. "Over the last few years we've lost a lot of our jobs. We lost two manufacturing plants, and I would say there was probably close to 300 jobs lost over the last three years just by businesses leaving."

Along with the effect the discounter will have on local businesses, Basanta and Williams agree it will influence the citizens as well. "It's going to impact the several hundred people who live along Country Club Road and the roads that branch off of Country Club Road," Williams said. "I believe the next city council meeting is April 12th, and we plan on attending, hopefully in numbers."

Randy Auxier, an SIUC professor in the Department of Philosophy from Murphysboro, said Wal-Mart is trying to extract all it can from the community. "When the Wal-Mart store becomes unprofitable, Wal-Mart closes it and leaves the community destitute and dying," Auxier said. "This pattern has been repeated many hundreds of times in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Arkansas, where Wal-Mart has existed for the longest time."

Auxier said Murphysboro should not be foolish enough to believe that the right way to fix its financial problems is sales tax revenue from Wal-Mart. "To say the least, it would be nice to give them a few lessons in why diversified local economies are a requirement for sustainable communities, but the leaders in Murphysboro are not far-seeing or sophisticated people, which is what Wal-Mart counts on," Auxier said.

Auxier said he believes this company "didn't get to where they are by being responsive to the desires of communities." However hard the struggle, Auxier said the citizens could do three things to help prevent a Wal-Mart Supercenter coming into their town.

"We can stop the annexation at the local level by pressuring our local politicians, thus blocking the land sale. We can pressure the local politicians not to use our tax money to try to extend our already old and feeble sewer system all the way out to the proposed site. Country Club Road falls under the County Board and apparently cannot be annexed. It is a chip and seal road and would require an entirely new roadbed to support the traffic," Auxier said.