Wal-Mart, Venice MainStreet Association, and city council elections (VIDEO)
Mike Miller parked an elephant in the living room at last Tuesday's planning commission meeting; while the CQG incumbents are avoiding the topic at all costs (Miller is donating heavily to their campaigns), the challengers are more than happy to talk about it
-- John Patten, 10/18/07
-- jpatten@veniceflorida.com

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Wal-Mart and politics
On October 10, one week before the planning commission meeting and about a week after the possibility of a Wal-Mart on Laurel Road hit the news, city council candidate Ernie Zavodnyik addressed the Venice MainStreet merchants on the issue of Wal-Mart. This was during a candidate forum held by the downtown merchant association.

This would mark the first (and so far, only) time that any candidate running for office has mentioned the name Wal-Mart in a public forum.

Miller has donated the maximum allowable $500 to the CQG PAC according to the PAC's most recent financial report. As a result, the incumbent CQG candidates have avoided mentioning the possibility of the Wal-Mart Super Center on Laurel Road in North Venice. They've avoided it like the plague. Or like the elephant in the living room.

John Patten is the head of Web Operations for Creative Pages, and has worked in broadcasting for over 12 years. He can also be incredibly rude at times.