I would like to respond to Mr. John Choco’s letter, published in the Sept. 16 edition of the Reporter. Several statements were either misattributed to me in Mr. Choco’s letter, or were just wrong.
Specifically, I have never asked to be protected from competition. I have simply pointed out that a Fred Meyer fueling station will threaten a half-dozen family-owned businesses. It is up to the community to decide whether that is a good thing, or not. It certainly wasn’t something that Fred Meyer was going to bring up. Good decisions can’t be made if only one side is considered.
I have not said that I will be laying off employees. I said that prior to the time that Safeway began to sell gas at Four Corners, I had 12 employees, and I now have five. There are towns in America in which half of the small businesses have closed, but the local Walmart is thriving, even as overall employment and property values fall.
Is that the direction we want to go? Just asking.
Mr. Choco’s suggestions regarding my pricing are breathtakingly presumptuous. I hold a bachelor of science in economics and a master of business administration. I have worked as a management consultant and a financial analyst, not to mention having owned my gas station in Maple Valley for 19 years. I could offer to let Mr. Choco set my pricing, if he wants to agree to cover the lost income.
I didn’t go into small business because I had to. I love small business, in spite of its inherent risks and frustrations. Small business is the engine that powers our economy. And yet, 70 percent of small businesses fail within their first three years. It is important that small business remains a feasible endeavor, not for the sake of shopkeepers, but for the sake of our economy.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Mr. Choco’s letter is his many comparisons of Covington to Maple Valley. The two cities have chosen different paths. Not everyone wants to live in a community that looks like a giant strip mall.
Residents of Maple Valley, such as Mr. Choco, cannot expect to be able to continue to enjoy the more rural residential setting that they have chosen, if they fail to support their own local economy.
David Hall
Maple Valley Shell
