Five Wal-Mart protesters arrested

by Sally Law
THE POST

Five people were arrested yesterday morning for persistent disorderly conduct after blocking the truck entrance to an East State Street construction site.

The individuals were attending a protest sponsored and coordinated by the Citizens for Responsible Development. The group is against the retail development of the Ohio University-owned land next to Kroger, 919 E. State St, said Jason Heinrich, an Ohio University graduate student and group member.

In an Oct. 17 Post article, John Kotowski, OU director of facilities planning, said Continental Properties Company, Inc. is planning a three-phase development of the land.

The first phase will be bringing in a big-box store, such as Wal-Mart. Restaurants will come in phase two, and phase three will bring a home-improvement store.

"Not only will Wal-Mart come, but they will attract others," Kotowski said in the article.

Heinrich said the citizens of Athens had no input in the development plans because the issue was not put on the ballot. Protesters are against Wal-Mart because they feel it will drain the local economy and replace higher-paying jobs with minimum wage ones.

"The idea behind (the protest) was to draw public attention to let the public, the state, the university and the city know that a lot of Athens citizens are not willing to take the kind of anti-democratic decision making that went into creating this development," he said.

Most of the protesters went into the road to stop the trucks from hauling in dirt, Heinrich said. The police announced the protesters had one minute to get out of the way, and all but the five protesters complied. The five were non-violently arrested.

Athens Police Department Lt. Jeff McCall said a liaison for Citizens for Responsible Development told police Monday night that arrests would need to be made at the rally. The group also passed out fliers, advertising the event.

But the group made no mention of plans for future events, McCall said. Despite the protest, the development will continue on schedule.

According to an OU news release, "While Ohio University certainly recognizes the right of the project's opponents to voice their opinion, it is necessary to move forward with the preparation of the site at this time in order to maintain a construction schedule with (the developer)."

Regardless, protesters said they hoped their message was heard.

"(The protest was about) public education, telling people about what is going on with Wal-Mart and telling people the negative effects of Wal-Mart," said Mara Giglio, 42 Grovner St. "We also feel like this is a spiritual battle, in terms of taking our convictions and doing something tangible with (them)."