Marchers hit Jackson streets

Marchers hit Jackson streets

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

By Carol Harper
(charper@ledger-dispatch.com)

"Home Depot's got to go, Amador County, just say no!" was the rallying cry of more than 200 participants in Saturday's Home Depot protest march down historic Main Street in Jackson.   Sponsored by the Citizens for the Preservation of Historic Jackson, protesters assembled at 9 a.m. Saturday at Detert Park with banners, boxes and picket signs reading "Scenic Beauty, Not Home Depot," "Let Us Be Careful About Our Future," and "No Big Boxes." Some protesters made small signs for their pets to display and some held picket signs as they rode their horses into town.

Seen from the upper balcony of the National Hotel, protesters against Home Depot march down Jackson's historic Main Street Saturday, with "Stop Home Depot/Big Boxes" as their theme. The Citizens for the Preservation of Historic Jackson coordinated and organized the event. Photo by: Carol Harper

CPHJ member Dennis Price organized and began the event by saying, "Who ever thought that we'd be protesting? It's the last thing that would have ever crossed my mind in these past few months." His comment was met with applause, after which Price gave the crowd directions as to how the march would proceed.

The Jackson police department escorted the protesters down the sidewalk along Highway 49 and led the crowd as it marched into historic downtown. The walk ended on the steps of the National Hotel at the end of Main Street, where Bob Devlin, president of the CPHJ, began by saying that a protest march had never been done in Jackson.

"We're making history here," Devlin said from the porch front of the hotel while thanking the crowd for coming out to protest. "The reason we are here is because the people of Jackson care a lot of what is happening on those 59 acres," he said. "We're not against retail establishments, just don't put them there."

Devlin thanked local businesses such as the National Hotel, Amador Ledger Print (which printed 100 posters for the event) and Motherlode Appliance which donated boxes for the box signs. "We may be out here again," Devlin said.

Col. Jim Cooke, candidate for 10th District State Assembly, addressed the crowd as a 30-year Marine veteran and "public servant." "That's what a state assembly is for, to serve you," Cooke said. "We're here to move forward with solutions with you, to battle for you, to speak with you, to walk with you.

"Who's going to speak up for the little guy? This is about history, about our kids. It's about this boy standing over here," Cooke said, turning to a young protest participant. "I am here to represent and to support you."

Marilyn Lewis was the only Jackson City Council member present for the duration of the protest. Lewis said that she had recently been on a 10-state cross country trip and commented how "all the cities look the same," she said. "Nothing is like Amador County. This is in our front yard, folks," Lewis said, encouraging everyone to "show up at the planning commission meetings and city councils, till they're tired of seeing your faces," she said.

Bill Condrashoff engaged in a lively question and response with the crowd. "I think some of our local government officials aren't hearing our message yet, so let them hear your answers if you really care about this little town."

Condrashoff then asked a series of questions such as "Do you think there is too much open space near town? Do you want our vista up on Highway 49 to overlook air conditioners and asphalt? Do you want Jackson to be a 'Traffic Depot'? Do you like the sounds of forklifts and semi trucks? Do you think 1 percent in sales tax is a fair trade for 100 percent of the profit? Do you think local businesses will benefit if Home Depot comes to Jackson? Do you want Home Depot anywhere near Historic Jackson?"

"No!" was the crowd's response to each of Condrashoff's questions, to which he replied, "Home Depot does." Condrashoff then said, "I want Home Depot to hear your answers to this last question, so be loud and clear because I think they're hard of hearing: Are you going to shop at Home Depot if they build in Jackson?"

The crowd again responded "no", to which Condrashoff replied. "Home Depot thinks you will."

Musicians Geoff Crawford and Masha Goodman then entertained the crowd with three songs entitled "Big Bad Box", a parody on the song "Big Bad John", "That's No Place for Home Depot", a parody on the song "There's No Place Like Home" and "Build Big Boxes", a parody on the song "Little Boxes" by Malvina Reynolds.

After the protest had ended, Devlin told the Ledger Dispatch that he was happy with the success of the march. "We really didn't know how many we'd have show up," he said. "We thought we'd be lucky if we saw 10 or a dozen, so we're very pleased that the public did come out."

The next steps the CPHJ plan to do is to "meet and regroup", Devlin said, and that the CPHJ would attend any community workshops that Home Depot plans on holding, with the hopes of "sending the message to them to listen," he said. "Listen to us."

© Amador Ledger-Dispatch

http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=188398