Article: Big Chase Bank & Big CVS Pharmacy Threaten Local Businesses

[Shepherd]

By Shepherd Bliss
WaccoBB.net

I’ve operated the small, artisan Kokopelli Farm, which grows mainly berries, for the last 20 years. It is located a couple of miles from small town Sebastopol’s downtown commons in Northern California. Our town has less than 8000 people and is the economic center of what is called the West County of the coastal Sonoma County. We historically have had a vibrant local economy, which is now being threatened by the desires of big businesses to further concentrate their enormous power and drain the agrarian wealth out of the land and people.

If the United States’ largest bank, Chase, and its 18^th largest corporation, CVS Pharmacy, are permitted to anchor themselves at the center of town, as they propose, it would hurt my farm and other local businesses. This would damage our town and our semi-rural county of nearly 500,000 people.

Fortunately, Sebastopol’s Design Review Board has rejected the Chase/CVS development several times, the latest being by a 4-1 vote in June. It will now go before the City Council on July 17. Chase and CVS have substantial global power, so they are working behind the scenes to get what they want—more money. They employ various tactics against local businesses and officials. The corner they covet is the most valuable in our town that is currently on the market.

Chase Bank, which is part of JP Morgan, and its CEO Jamie Dimon have recently received bad publicity for gambling with derivatives and losing over $2 billion dollars. They have a long history of paying millions of

dollars in fines for illegal, fraudulent, predatory banking practices. Many consider them loan sharks. Fortunately for us, we have good alternatives because we have many credit unions and local banks in Sebastopol. They deserve our business, which strengthens the local economy.

CVS is the 18^th largest corporation in the U.S. and has also been found guilty numerous times and fined millions of dollars for criminal practices, including the failure to cleanup toxic materials. The white collar criminal top managers of Chase and CVS should be in jail. They are not there because--like previous robber barons--they have high paid lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians who make the laws that are supposed to regulate them.

Corporations have captured the federal government and rule even judges, especially the U.S. Supreme Court. Big corporations have successfully concentrated their power in many industries, including

financial, pharmaceutical, agribusiness, and nuclear energy. They anchor the wealthy 1% and oppress the 99% of people.

CVS utilizes devious ways of depriving local pharmacies of customers. According to GoLocal’s (www.golocal.coop) Philip Beard: “My local druggist at Tuttle's Pharmacy in Santa Rosa has lost a sizable portion of his clientele. All County workers are now covered by a recently adopted County group healthcare policy. The policy only pays for prescribed drugs if they are bought at CVS!”

Beard added, “So Tuttle's, a longtime locally owned Sonoma County business that's paid beaucoup bucks in taxes over the years, is cheated out of a significant part of business because the County--ostensibly to help its employees cover their healthcare needs--awards an exclusive contract to a corporate giant that would like Tuttle's to go out of business. The people who work there would lose their jobs.”

The owner of another local pharmacy in the West County confirmed the same information. It is losing customers because of the mandatory mail order purchasing of medicine only through CVS. “This model is not a best practice for patients,” he observed. “CVS does not care. Medical outcomes are best when done with face-to-face interaction with the pharmacist. Yet most of the county is going to such mail-orders.”

My small business was damaged when a big super-market chain bought a small, local business. For many years Sebastopol’s Food for Thought was the main purchaser of my berries. I could supply them the quantity they needed at their one store. But once Texas-based Whole Foods bought them, they wanted me to supply berries for all their regional stores. Since I was unable to do that, they began purchasing their berries from big businesses located outside Sonoma County. So instead of the money from the financial exchange continuing to circulate among the people within Sonoma County, it now goes to Texas and elsewhere. Studies document that the average morsel of food in the U.S. travels 1500 miles from field to fork to be eaten. This consumes a huge amount of fossil fuels, which are declining in supply and should be preserved for essential uses.

Fortunately for my business, Laguna Farm has continued to purchase my berries to supply its Community Supported (CSA) customers; I also sell them directly to customers who come to Kokopelli Farm. Another favorable recent development for local growers has been the growth of Terra Sonoma into the Farmers Exchange of Earthly Delights (FEED). It buys directly from local farmers and distributes throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Its motto is "Feeding you Locally since 1979." The word “locavore,” which means to source one’s food locally, was invented in Sonoma County, and recently was named the Oxford Dictionary’s new word of the year.

The Spiral Foods Coop has been hard at work organizing and already has hundreds of members, which will give locals more local food options. We need more such cooperatives and fewer huge corporations.

“One person, one vote” is an American tradition. However, the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court’s misnamed “Citizens United” decision declaring that corporations are people, we has deprived us of that tradition. The way it now works is that one giant corporation can give millions of dollars to candidates and elected officials and thus buy their votes. This includes Supreme Court judges, resulting in the current U.S. Supreme Court having the lowest percentage of confidence by the American people of any court in U.S. history.

If the Sebastopol City Council upholds the Design Review Board’s rejection of the Chase/CVS development, it would benefit the small businesses and people of the West County. If it permits that development, it would ensure a protracted struggle by those of us who love the small town character of Sebastopol, which Chase/CVS would undermine.

The differences between big chains like Chase and CVS and small businesses like Kokopelli Farm and Tuttle’s are essential.Local businesses like ours are what differentiates and puts our small town of Sebastopol on the map as a local, go-to community with character.

(Shepherd Bliss operates the artisan Kokopelli Farm, teaches college, and can be reached at [email protected].)

[Tinque]

​Thank you so much Shepard for clarifying the situation in an understandable fashion and enlightening us. Sincerely, Tinque

[Garnette]

I am a full supporter of Tuttle Pharmacy, not related to them or anything. I have just used them for many years and referred people to them who where looking for a good trustworthy pharmacy. I have always been treated like a "person" and one of the most wonderful things is that they deliver quite a ways out and then a little bit further on occasion.. They also have or are willing to get a Rx that the larger pharmacy doesn't for or carry for whatever reason They are people owned and part of our community and deserve support over big business of any kind. I recently heard an office worker saying they were being FORCED to order solely from cvs but didn't seem to understand the implication

The well known ambiance of downtown Sebastopol is and will be gradually ruined by the inclusion of more big business and hopefully the decision makers will not crumble when money is thrown at them. Stand up for your town's integrity!

By Shepherd Bliss
WaccoBB.net

I’ve operated the small, artisan Kokopelli Farm, which grows mainly berries, for the last 20 years. It is located a couple of miles from small town Sebastopol’s downtown commons in Northern California. Our town has less than 8000 people and is the economic center of what is called the West County of the coastal Sonoma County. We historically have had a vibrant local economy, which is now being threatened by the desires of big businesses to further concentrate their enormous power and drain the agrarian wealth out of the land and people.

If the United States’ largest bank, Chase, and its 18^th largest corporation, CVS Pharmacy, are permitted to anchor themselves at the center of town, as they propose, it would hurt my farm and other local businesses. This would damage our town and our semi-rural county of nearly 500,000 people.

Fortunately, Sebastopol’s Design Review Board has rejected the Chase/CVS development several times, the latest being by a 4-1 vote in June. It will now go before the City Council on July 17. Chase and CVS have substantial global power, so they are working behind the scenes to get what they want—more money. They employ various tactics against local businesses and officials. The corner they covet is the most valuable in our town that is currently on the market.

Chase Bank, which is part of JP Morgan, and its CEO Jamie Dimon have recently received bad publicity for gambling with derivatives and losing over $2 billion dollars. They have a long history of paying millions of

dollars in fines for illegal, fraudulent, predatory banking practices. Many consider them loan sharks. Fortunately for us, we have good alternatives because we have many credit unions and local banks in Sebastopol. They deserve our business, which strengthens the local economy.

CVS is the 18^th largest corporation in the U.S. and has also been found guilty numerous times and fined millions of dollars for criminal practices, including the failure to cleanup toxic materials. The white collar criminal top managers of Chase and CVS should be in jail. They are not there because--like previous robber barons--they have high paid lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians who make the laws that are supposed to regulate them.

Corporations have captured the federal government and rule even judges, especially the U.S. Supreme Court. Big corporations have successfully concentrated their power in many industries, including

financial, pharmaceutical, agribusiness, and nuclear energy. They anchor the wealthy 1% and oppress the 99% of people.

CVS utilizes devious ways of depriving local pharmacies of customers. According to GoLocal’s (www.golocal.coop) Philip Beard: “My local druggist at Tuttle's Pharmacy in Santa Rosa has lost a sizable portion of his clientele. All County workers are now covered by a recently adopted County group healthcare policy. The policy only pays for prescribed drugs if they are bought at CVS!”

Beard added, “So Tuttle's, a longtime locally owned Sonoma County business that's paid beaucoup bucks in taxes over the years, is cheated out of a significant part of business because the County--ostensibly to help its employees cover their healthcare needs--awards an exclusive contract to a corporate giant that would like Tuttle's to go out of business. The people who work there would lose their jobs.”

The owner of another local pharmacy in the West County confirmed the same information. It is losing customers because of the mandatory mail order purchasing of medicine only through CVS. “This model is not a best practice for patients,” he observed. “CVS does not care. Medical outcomes are best when done with face-to-face interaction with the pharmacist. Yet most of the county is going to such mail-orders.”

My small business was damaged when a big super-market chain bought a small, local business. For many years Sebastopol’s Food for Thought was the main purchaser of my berries. I could supply them the quantity they needed at their one store. But once Texas-based Whole Foods bought them, they wanted me to supply berries for all their regional stores. Since I was unable to do that, they began purchasing their berries from big businesses located outside Sonoma County. So instead of the money from the financial exchange continuing to circulate among the people within Sonoma County, it now goes to Texas and elsewhere. Studies document that the average morsel of food in the U.S. travels 1500 miles from field to fork to be eaten. This consumes a huge amount of fossil fuels, which are declining in supply and should be preserved for essential uses.

Fortunately for my business, Laguna Farm has continued to purchase my berries to supply its Community Supported (CSA) customers; I also sell them directly to customers who come to Kokopelli Farm. Another favorable recent development for local growers has been the growth of Terra Sonoma into the Farmers Exchange of Earthly Delights (FEED). It buys directly from local farmers and distributes throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Its motto is "Feeding you Locally since 1979." The word “locavore,” which means to source one’s food locally, was invented in Sonoma County, and recently was named the Oxford Dictionary’s new word of the year.

The Spiral Foods Coop has been hard at work organizing and already has hundreds of members, which will give locals more local food options. We need more such cooperatives and fewer huge corporations.

“One person, one vote” is an American tradition. However, the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court’s misnamed “Citizens United” decision declaring that corporations are people, we has deprived us of that tradition. The way it now works is that one giant corporation can give millions of dollars to candidates and elected officials and thus buy their votes. This includes Supreme Court judges, resulting in the current U.S. Supreme Court having the lowest percentage of confidence by the American people of any court in U.S. history.

If the Sebastopol City Council upholds the Design Review Board’s rejection of the Chase/CVS development, it would benefit the small businesses and people of the West County. If it permits that development, it would ensure a protracted struggle by those of us who love the small town character of Sebastopol, which Chase/CVS would undermine.

The differences between big chains like Chase and CVS and small businesses like Kokopelli Farm and Tuttle’s are essential.Local businesses like ours are what differentiates and puts our small town of Sebastopol on the map as a local, go-to community with character.

(Shepherd Bliss operates the artisan Kokopelli Farm, teaches college, and can be reached at [email protected].)

[misha77]

CVS is deeply entwined in ALEC. Any council member supporting CVS coming to Sebastopol is clearly looking to undermine the political power of the citizens and to minimize environmental protections of our community.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is an 501(c)(3) American charitable and educational organization, composed of conservative thinkers, state legislators of both parties, businesses and foundations that exists for the purpose of drafting research, policy papers and model legislation to assist and influence state legislatures and promote free-market and conservative ideas. According to the organization's website, members share a common belief that "government closest to the people" is "fundamentally more effective, more just, and a better guarantor of freedom than the distant, bloated federal government in Washington, D.C." ALEC is perhaps best known for drafting model legislation on issues such as tax treatment of corporations, tightening voter identification rules, minimizing environmental protections, and promoting gun rights. Model legislation drafted by ALEC is designed to be easily adopted by state legislators and introduced as legislation. ALEC also serves as a... (via Freebase)

• American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on Freebase

[lindasw]

Am i late or out of the loop with this question? Are we all still filling the parking lots to shop at Whole Foods each day, getting our lunches at the deli, our power smoothies and morning coffee inside, then walking across to the square to Occupy? If so, the difference is.....? Thanks

[misha77]

This is what is at stake:

From:
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/27-5

ALEC Is Exposed as Wooing Legislators for Global Corporations

Inside, the opinion page included a massive editorial cartoon by Pat Bagley featuring the punch line to the joke: "A Legislator Walks Into a Bar." The commentary made the most of the idea that ALEC is like a "dating service" (a notion popularized by Wisconsin state Rep. Mark Pocan, who joined ALEC to help expose it.)

But in this instance, ALEC was a hot redhead flirting with out-of-state legislators while a lobbyist for "Big Mega-Huge Corporations" tells ALEC, "Now tell the rube he reminds you of George Washington and you want to go up to show him our legislative agenda."

[misha77]

Furthermore, here is another ALEC expose:Published on Friday, July 27, 2012 by DeSmog Blog

Exposed: Pennsylvania Act 13 Overturned by Supreme Court, Originally an ALEC Model Bill

https://www.desmogblog.com/exposed-pennsylvania-act-13-overturned-supreme-court-originally-alec-model-bill

by Steve Horn

On July 26, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled PA Act 13 unconstitutional. The bill would have stripped away local zoning laws, eliminated the legal concept of a Home Rule Charter , limited private property rights, and in the process, completely disempowered town, city, municipal and county governments, particularly when it comes to shale gas development.

...

Act 13 — pejoratively referred to as "the Nation's Worst Corporate Giveaway" by AlterNet reporter Steven Rosenfeld — would have ended local democracy as we know it in Pennsylvania.

"It’s absolutely crushing of local self-government," Ben Price, project director for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), told Rosenfeld. "It’s a complete capitulation of the rights of the people and their right to self-government. They are handing it over to the industry to let them govern us. It is the corporate state. That is how we look at it."

Where could the idea for such a bill come from in the first place? Rosenfeld pointed to the oil and gas industry in his piece.
That's half of the answer. Pennsylvania is the epicenter of the ongoing fracking boom in the United States, and by and large, is a state seemingly bought off by the oil and gas industry.

The other half of the question left unanswered, though, is who do oil and gas industry lobbyists feed anti-democratic, state-level legislation to?

The answer, in a word: ALEC.

PA Act 13, Originally an ALEC Model Bill

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is in the midst of hosting its 39th Annual Meeting this week in Salt Lake City, Utah. ALEC is appropriately described as an ideologically conservative, Republican Party-centric "corporate bill mill" by the Center for Media and Democracy, the overseer of the ALEC Exposed project. 98 percent of ALEC's funding comes from corporations, according to CMD**.

ALEC's meetings bring together corporate lobbyists and state legislators to schmooze, and then vote on what it calls "model bills." Lobbyists have a "voice and a vote in shaping policy," CMDexplains. They have de facto veto power over whether their prospective bills become "models" that will be distributed to the offices of politicians in statehouses nationwide.
A close examination suggests that an ALEC model bill is quite similar to the recently overturned Act 13.

Continues at https://www.desmogblog.com/exposed-pennsylvania-act-13-overturned-supreme-court-originally-alec-model-bill