MISSOULA (AP)
The president of a group that wants to limit the size of big box stores in Ravalli County has filed a complaint with the state commissioner of political practices, saying Wal-Mart is financing an opposing effort, but Wal-Mart’ is not in the organization’s name. The complaint, signed by Russ Lawrence, president of the Bitterroot Good Neighbors Coalition, alleges that the group, Ravalli County Citizens for Free Enterprise, is entirely funded by Wal-Mart. “The name of Wal-Mart, however, does not appear in the name of the ballot committee,” wrote Lawrence. State law requires political committees to use “a name or phrase that clearly identifies the economic or other special interest, if identifiable, of a majority of its contributors,” Lawrence wrote in his complaint. “We just want to make Ravalli County voters aware of the kind of money an out-of-state corporation is spending in a heavy-handed attempt to take away the size cap and design standards we chose to enact last April,” Lawrence said Wednesday. Dallas Erickson, who heads Ravalli County Citizens for Free Enterprise, dismissed the complaint as “a bunch of hooey. They’re just trying to get a bunch of free headlines right before the election.” At issue is an emergency zoning resolution that county commissioners passed last April limiting the size of big box stores to 60,000 square feet. Wal-Mart wants to build a store more than twice that size in Hamilton. Erickson started a group called Citizens for Economic Opportunity, which carried a petition to put the zoning resolution on the November ballot. Funded primarily by Wal-Mart, the group got the signatures necessary to force the November vote. That led the emergency resolution to be suspended pending The election, and may have created a window for the Arkansasbased retailer to receive needed state permits. The focus is now on Tuesday’s elections, and both sides have been working to get people to the polls. Citizens for Free Enterprise has received a single $100,000 donation from Wal-Mart on Oct. 16. On its latest campaign report, the group reports spending $24,046.61 to date. In the complaint to the political practices commissioner, Lawrence asked for a $24,000 fine, representing the amount the group has spent while operating with a “false name.” It’s not clear how quickly the commissioner will rule on the complaint. Lawrence said the effort to limit the size of stores was not intended to stop Wal-Mart, but rather a way to place huge retailers on more even footing with other merchants so they don’t dominate the local economy.
