By Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

You probably have heard by now that the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is looking to open up a grocery store in Assembly Square on the site of the old Circuit City. And the main question I have been asked about it during the past week is “What is your knee-jerk reaction?” Am I for it? Am I against it?

I hate to disappoint people, but the truth is I’m curious about it. It is no secret that we have been interested in having another market that can provide fresh food at reasonable prices come to the eastern portion of Somerville for many years now. American society has a profound food equity issue. The people who make the least are not getting the access they need to good food. In a city that has gained national attention for its Shape Up Somerville healthy living program, we want to attract businesses that will address the underserved portions of our community.

By the same token, if you wish to come into our community and operate a business, we are going to care about how you do your business. Everyone loves a low price, but you do not want that to come as the result of workers not being given enough hours to earn benefits. Aside from everything else, that just passes along healthcare costs to the public. And obviously we want to discuss high profile controversies regarding Wal-Mart’s labor practices. Fair treatment in the workplace is one of our cornerstone community values.

So we have concerns, and what we need right now is to start a conversation. This is not a black-and-white issue. Most importantly, we are early in the process. My staff and I will sit down with Wal-Mart to see if we can find some common ground. The situation at the moment is our door is open and we are willing to listen.

That may not placate those who have declared themselves instantly for or against this project, but it is the responsible way to handle this matter. If a business wants to come into our community, it deserves fair consideration, even if it happens to be a business whose very name sparks politically charged debate. In fact, especially when the name of the business sparks politically charged debate. It is the hardest cases that measure whether you really have a fair process.

Somerville deserves better than an automated response on this. The role of City government at this stage should be to ask a lot of questions. Permits have yet to be applied for and public hearings have yet to be held. We will not rush to conclusions in front of consideration.