Comment 93144

By Sara (registered) | Posted October 11, 2013 at 15:05:04

Thank you so much for posting this letter, Loretta. I hope you send it to The Spec, too. And to your City Councillor - Chad Collins. I wish the very best for your daughter-in-law, she sounds like a great mom (as do you)!

Your analysis is so well laid out - you describe in detail the consequences of the low wage economy that's such a big part of our city.

If employers like Walmart paid a decent wage and provided shuttle service to ensure safety for their employees they would be beenficial to our economy. But instead they take away more from our economy and our quality of life than they contribute.

The city allowed Walmart to locate at that plaza without any proper planning. They had to close a lane of traffic under the bridge at Centennial because there's no sidewalk there and lots of pedestrians were using the road at very high risk to themselves. The City has had to add a bus to the Plaza, but like you said not enough hours to cover shifts. That bus costs the city about $250,000 per year, and they only get back about $50,000 in fares, so it is in fact a subsidy to Walmart to allow them to pay low wages and still have employees. If the city did not provide the bus service - Walmart would have to either pay for their own shuttle bus, or pay employees enough so they could take a taxi home or own their own car.

Again, thank you for sharing your story here, and urge you to share it with your city councillor.

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