I hate to say I told you so, Chief Hicks, but I told you so. So far, other than a few face lifts to a handful of souvenir shops, and a tribally-funded movie theater built for a cost well above for what it could've been done, Wal-Mart seemed to be the only real economic development initiative Michell Hicks had for Cherokee. Well, as Wal-Mart has done to the city of Clyde, it bailed on Cherokee with the tribe holding the costs of site development, and I'm willing to bet, construction as tribal government bent over backwards trying to bring the Mecha Godzilla company to Cherokee. How much has the tribe spent trying to bring it here? Good luck getting an answer, as chances are your council members probably don't even know, and Chief Hicks isn't known for being the most transparent chief.
The sad thing, just as it's been with so many of the chief's controversial initiatives, the tribal members who lived in Cherokee were never even asked whether they wanted Wal Mart there. Many of the retailers in Cherokee clearly didn't want it.
Here's a thought though, since so many pushing for this monstrosity argued it would save tribal members a trip to Sylva, how about charging tribal levy on gasoline, which would make a huge difference in price, plus actually and noticeably increase tribal levy? Chief Hicks, if you can make that happen, I will definitely have words of praise for you, something that hasn't happened often during your "proven leadership."
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