Voters to decide fate of proposed Wal-Mart

By GARY GENTILE / AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wal-Mart wants to offer its bargains in Inglewood, but many residents aren’t buying the pitch.

Voters in this working class city were to decide Tuesday whether to allow the nation’s largest company to open a shopping development despite opponents who say it will skirt zoning, traffic and environmental reviews.

Wal-Mart has argued in Inglewood and elsewhere that its stores create jobs and said residents should be able to decide for themselves whether or not they want the stores in their community.

Last year the Inglewood City Council blocked the proposed shopping center that would include a traditional Wal-Mart as well as other stores. That prompted Wal-Mart to collect more than 10,000 signatures to force Tuesday’s ballot initiative.

Religious leaders and community activists, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, rallied Monday to urge voters in the city of 117,000 to defeat the ballot measure, which is backed by Wal-Mart.

The initiative’s opponents argue it would give Wal-Mart the right to build without having to go through the usual array of public zoning, traffic and environmental hearings or reviews.

“You don’t get to get around all of the environmental impacts accepted in this country,” Rep. Maxine Waters said Monday. “You don’t get to bypass the city and their building and safety and their planning departments. What they have done is they have gone over the top.”

Wal-Mart has faced strident opposition from unions, resident groups and some municipalities who say the company’s gargantuan shopping centers hurt independent businesses, drive out higher-paying blue-collar jobs and worsen traffic congestion.

Wal-Mart has spent more than $1 million in its Inglewood campaign, according to campaign finance records, while opponents have spent a fraction of that amount.

Objections to the Bentonville, Ark.-based Walt-Mart Stores Inc. have surfaced around the country, including Chicago, where the City Council recently stalled a measure to approve the first Wal-Mart inside Chicago’s city limits because of concerns about the company’s labor practices.

Wal-Mart officials defends the number and quality of jobs its stores create.

“They are nonunion jobs, but they are not low-paying jobs,” company spokesman Bob McAdam said. “Wal-Mart pays competitive wages with other retailer and we offer health benefits to every employee.”