Wal-Mart said it would take about 18 months to build the new store. Maybe Chris Riley and Ceda can come up with good ideas as to how to attract some interesting new business that might want to use the space Wal-Mart is vacating. I wonder how many small mom and pop stores Wal-Mart will affect on the other side of town.

Maybe when Mr. Andrews interviews for our new PART TIME PLANNER he could ask them what they would do with the space. In the meantime are there any retail stores or restaurants that any of you would like to see in Wal-Mart’s place? We need to get something in that plaza before it becomes a ghost town.

It would be nice if we could get a developer that would do something like Mashpee commons. I love shopping there the lay out is perfect there is easy parking, you don’t have to walk a mile to get to the stores. They have both high end and some moderately priced stores. Not all of the stores are franchised; there are quite a few independent business owners. It’s much nicer than Wareham Crossing.

Ham of Peace here.

In the year 2000, Wareham didn't have much of anything.  Then over the next few years, there was a tremendous growth spurt.  A movie theater, several new restaurants, several new chain businesses and developments came to town, followed by the mall.

Wareham was sailing along at a pretty rapid clip, many new jobs and opportunities coming with this new building.

But all it took was a few years of pathetic leadership from the former dictatorship to reverse it all. 

Chuck Gricus, former Wareham town planner, like most Wareham department heads over the past few years, failed to pucker up and kiss the former dictatorship's asses with enough enthusiasm and was summarily dispatched, ironically at the same time he won SRPEDD Planner of the Year.  Someone named best planner in the region couldn't be allowed to remain as town planner because he didn't kiss enough BOS butt.

The result was that Wareham was left without a town planner for three years.  For three years, Wareham didn't have anyone responsible for keeping a watchful eye on our town's growth and the resulting problems that came with it.  There was no one looking at these problems and coming up with solutions for them.

The result is that the East Wareham business scene is dying, and if Wal-Mart leaves, it will be a ghost town.

We have no one but the Former Dictatorship to thank for that.  If we had had a planner for the past few years, I doubt East Wareham would be in the state that it is now. 

I hope East Wareham and Onset voters remember that at the ballot box.

I am Hamatron5000!