It was bad enough that District elected officials, particularly Mayor Vincent C. Gray, stood by as Walmart announced its intention to dump six stores into neighborhood commercial corridors, creating an environment ripe for the retail behemoth to bully small businesses. The executive exacerbated that short-sighted economic development strategy by signing the “Community Partnership Initiative.” Despite the peacocking by Gray and others after the agreement was signed, the District is receiving mostly crumbs. What’s more, the initiative lacks measurable goals and is wholly unenforceable.
“It is a voluntary agreement and one in which Walmart is participating without any legal requirement for them to do so,” said Jose Sousa, spokesman for Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor Hoskins, whose office negotiated the agreement.
