Saturday, june 17th 9AM -- AMADOR COUNTY Community march planned to protest HOME DEPOT

Community march planned to protest Home Depot
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
By Carol Harper, The Ledger Dispatch

Downtown Historic Jackson is the planned pathway for a march slated this Saturday in protest of the proposed Home Depot project currently in escrow.

"Stop Home Depot/Big Boxes" is the theme of the protest sponsored by the Committee to Preserve Historic Jackson that will begin in Detert Park at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 17. The public is invited to attend.

The march will first assemble at Detert Park and open with a few speakers who will make a case for not destroying the historic and scenic region of Jackson with large retail stores. The march will then proceed from the park, go through Jackson's historic downtown business district on Main Street and end at the steps of the National Hotel, where there will be another speaker.

Participants are invited to make or carry signs. Participants and anyone from the audience are also invited to speak.

"This is our moment in time to make a difference regarding how our community will look in the future," CPHJ Chairman Bob Devlin said. "Once it's gone, it's gone forever."

"The protest is to let the Jackson officials know that the proposed location is unacceptable," said Amador Citizens for Smart Growth chairwoman Kathy Allen. "It is also a rallying cry to let other Jackson city residents know about the proposed project because many are still not aware."

Local musician Geff Crawford is composing a song for the event and will sing it at the National Hotel at the completion of the march. "He is extraordinarily clever with his songs so it should be a blast," Devlin said.

The CPHJ is a subcommittee of the ACSG, which recently submitted a petition against the proposed Home Depot project and big box development to the Jackson City Council on May 18.

"The petition is still going around and people are still signing it," said Allen. "People are still just now finding out about the (Home Depot) proposal. We'll take petition signatures all the way up to when the city council makes a final vote."

For more information about Saturday's CPHJ's march, contact Bob Devlin at 223-0600.