A bid
by the world's largest corporation to bypass uncooperative elected
officials and take its aggressive expansion plans to voters failed
Tuesday, as Inglewood residents overwhelmingly rejected Wal-Mart's
proposal to build a colossal retail and grocery center without an
environmental review or public hearings.
With
all votes counted Tuesday evening, 4,575 Inglewood residents had
voted in favor of Wal-Mart's plan, while 7,049 had voted against
it.
Wal-Mart
hopes to break into California's grocery business by opening 40 such
Supercenters statewide. The one in Inglewood would have been Los
Angeles County 's first.
The company
had spent more than $1 million on its campaign, and opponents had
warned that if the company won, residents throughout California should
gird for similar battles.
"What
this shows is that Wal-Mart can't dupe people in this city to sign
away their rights," said Mike Shimpock, a strategist for the
campaign against the move. "If they spent $1 million here and
lost by this margin, I doubt they'll try this elsewhere. They'll
have to approach cities as equal partners."
Thwarted
by officials in Inglewood and elsewhere, company strategists decided
to take their proposal directly to voters, who the retailer said
would be well served by new jobs, tax revenues and low prices.
The expansion
encountered fierce opposition from organized labor, which insisted
that Wal-Mart's aggressive business practices and anti-union employment
policies would result in lost jobs and depressed wages for millions
of workers.
The United
Food and Commercial Workers and Teamsters amassed a seven-figure
war chest to fight Wal-Mart's effort statewide and vigorously lobbied
public
officials.
State
Democratic legislators have introduced bills that would force Wal-Mart
to provide health insurance to a wider number of employees and pay
for expensive economic studies before it could build stores. In Los
Angeles, officials are drafting an ordinance that would effectively
ban such stores from the city.
The Supercenter
in Inglewood was proposed for an area the size of 17 football fields
between the Hollywood Racetrack and the Forum, the arena that once
served as home court to the Los Angeles Lakers. In addition to the
household products, clothing and drugs commonly sold in Wal-Mart
stores, Supercenters sell groceries. Analysts have said that the
chain's share of grocery sales in California could reach 20%.
The prospect
of the Wal-Mart expansion fueled the longest supermarket strike in
Southern California history. Tens of thousands of grocery workers,
who earn an average of $13 an hour, walked picket lines last fall
and winter to protest reductions in health benefits that the supermarkets
said were needed to compete with Wal-Mart.
The question
on Tuesday's ballot in Inglewood was whether to allow the retailer
to obtain building permits without a public hearing or environmental
impact study. Many community leaders and Inglewood city officials,
except the mayor, said the measure would set a dangerous precedent
for cities nationwide by preempting local control over the development
process and circumventing environmental review of large projects.
"They
want to be the big gorilla and not even offer one banana," Assemblyman
Jerome Horton (D-Inglewood) said Tuesday. "Clearly, this is
a test site for Wal-Mart to determine if they can go from city to
city to city, preempting state law and local building and safety
codes.... I think everyone should prepare for a full frontal attack
from Wal-Mart."
The campaign
for and against the measure was intense, and city officials called
Tuesday's turnout "robust." Throughout the campaign, opposing
sides held street fairs, gave away food and offered free rides to
the polls.
In the
days leading up to the election, competition for votes became an
open scuffle, with each side trying to crash the other's publicity
events. At a Vote No rally last week, protesters rushed a lone man
who was holding a sign that lauded the project as "Good News
for Inglewood." Protesters tried to use their signs to hide
him from news cameras. The Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Maxine Waters
(D-Los Angeles) joined the opposition effort Monday.
Inglewood
city officials and Wal-Mart have been sparring for more than a year.
Initially, the City Council tried to keep Wal-Mart from moving in
by adopting an emergency ordinance in October 2002 that barred construction
of retail stores larger than 155,000 square feet that sell more than
20,000 nontaxable items, such as food and drugs. Supercenters run
about 200,000 square feet.
Within
a month, the council withdrew the ordinance after Wal-Mart threatened
to sue. Through a group called Citizens Committee to Welcome Wal-Mart
to Inglewood, the company succeeded in calling the matter to a public
vote by collecting about 6,500 signatures.
The company
campaigned heavily throughout the city of 112,000. It flooded the
city with television commercials and mailers depicting happy African
American families and calling the development "good news for
everyone in Inglewood." The working-class town is roughly split
between African Americans and Latinos.
The opposition
included city, county and state officials, and clergy from the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, Nation of Islam and St. Michael's
Catholic Church in Inglewood.
However,
some residents said they were swayed by Wal-Mart's insistence that
the Supercenter would bring jobs to town and generate $3 million
to $5 million in sales tax revenue for better police services and
new community centers.
After
casting her vote in favor of the measure, homemaker Marie Glenn said
the retailer would bring needed jobs for young people.
"I
believe Inglewood needs the improvement. I think it's great," said
Glenn, 50, who was at a doughnut shop that tried to spur voter interest
today by giving away free treats. "The revenue would be great
for the city."
But the
longtime owners of Randy's Doughnuts, Larry and Ron Weintraub, both
opposed the superstore.
Ron said
that although he doesn't live in Inglewood, a business he once owned
in Texas went under when Wal-Mart came to town.
"I'm
sure it's going to hurt small business," he said.
At a
polling station in Darby Park, Carl Hargrove said he voted against
the measure. The Supercenter would occupy a crumbling asphalt parking
lot just a short walk from his home. Hargrove said it wasn't a union
issue to him, it was a quality of life issue. "It would create
too much traffic for the area," Hargrove said. "Groceries
will bring in entirely too many people."
At a
party thrown by Supercenter opponents late Tuesday night, the Rev.
Tony Muhammad said the vote showed that Wal-Mart's "dollars
can't buy the people. They wanted a good fight, and they came to
the right place."
