The CEO of Dollar General Corporation made $12 million last year. He pays his workers an average of $9.76 an hour. In Deerfield, Massachusetts on December 12, eleven people attended a rally to stop a proposed Dollar General store in Deerfield. Deerfield borders Greenfield. Julie Cavacco was at the rally. On December 15 she told the Valley Post the rally was organized because the new store would cause floods in the surrounding area. Cavacco is a librarian at Deerfield's public library. She said, “I wanted to draw attention to an area I expect will be affected from upstream runoff from a large building and parking lot. And I want public comment opened and in person. I have seen quick results and decisions affected when suggestions are made face to face.”

Cavacco continued that, during the rally, “I ended up talking to five or six passersby. While I was standing there I noticed that water comes from across the street under the road. So that yard gets the runoff from the range and across the street. One person told me there was a cranberry bog north (on the high school side) years back. Forty-plus years ago they used to dredge the ‘creek’ but regulations changed. On my commute to work I’ve watched it worsen over the years."

She referred the Valley Post to a local group that's fighting the proposed Dollar General. The group has a web page at:

www.facebook.com/DeerfieldForResponsibleDevelopment

The town government has the power to stop the proposed store. The proposed site is now open space. The USA is losing 6,000 acres of open space to development every day.