Organization Links

Other Links

Site Fights

Mercados Project

Big Box Studies

Big Box Videos

Wal-Mart not as advertised. The story of Hearne Texas

Blog Sites

momandpopnyc.com
momand
popnyc.blogspot

City Council Being Recalled Over Wal-Mart Vote
'Mayor Pete Sanchez...has not kept his public campaign promises to oppose a proposed big box development that has negative impacts on the health and safety of residents,'

Click here to read the full story

Residents hear critiques of big-box retailers
OAKLEY: Large, new stores are in direct conflict with plans to restore downtown, activists say
By Paula King STAFF WRITER

A few weeks after Wal-Mart abandoned its plans to locate a Supercenter in Oakley, a local citizens group opposed to the megaretailer held a town hall meeting to discuss the impact of big-box development on the evolving city.

The speakers at Thursday's meeting addressed community concerns about the proposed 77-acre commercial project where Wal-Mart was planning to move. They discussed the environmental review process and future public hearings surrounding the River Oaks Crossing shopping center.

"It's not too late to include the citizens and taxpayers of Oakley in the process of deciding what kind of commercial growth we want in our community. Bigger is not necessarily better," Save Oakley Now spokesman Bob Caughron stated in a news release.

The panel of speakers urged Oakley residents to get involved in the young city's impending commercial growth and hold public officials accountable for any related impacts. Land use attorney Mark Wolfe and Phil Tucker of California Healthy Communities Network spoke about how big-box development in Oakley could harm ongoing downtown revitalization efforts.

According to Tucker, the development of big-box shopping centers and the redevelopment of Oakley's downtown represent two competing visions. He added that the area doesn't have enough potential shoppers to support both retail endeavors.

"These plans overlap each other and what that means is they are drawing their primary shoppers from the same area," Tucker said. "The downtown development plan doesn't have much of a chance."

Wal-Mart officials said that the Oakley Supercenter application was withdrawn because of the nation's sluggish economy and stagnant stock values. Wal-Mart has decided not to construct more than 140 planned stores.

The Supercenter was expected to bring more than 450 new jobs and $700,000 annually in sales tax revenue. Meanwhile, city leaders are pushing forward with River Oaks Crossing by luring other major retailers to the site.

According to Wolfe, Wal-Mart realized the demand is not strong enough in Oakley. "It still boils down to these competing visions and the delusion that it doesn't exist," he said to a crowd of area residents attending the forum at Vintage Parkway Elementary School. Wolfe mentioned several California cities that have banned superstores or imposed limitations on retailers like Wal-Mart. Among those cities are Los Angeles, Oakland, Turlock, Stockton and Vallejo, he said.

As Save Oakley Now's land-use counsel, Wolfe asked residents to get involved in the public process for River Oaks.

"What we can insist upon is that all that information is laid out in front of us," he said. Mark Gagliardi spoke as an Oakley resident and board member of the Contra Costa Central Labor Council. He said he is also interested in seeing the downtown successfully redeveloped.

"I just think there is a smart way to do it," Gagliardi said. "We don't need to put up a big store that is going to take out the competition."

Oakley resident and Delta Green Party member Paul Seger said Wal-Mart's way of doing business is un-American. He asked Oakley residents to demand accountability from local officials.

"There are so many ways we can use this land," Seger said.

Paula King covers Oakley. Reach her at 925-779-7189 or pking@bayareanewsgroup.com

Recall bid gains traction Article Launched: 03/09/2008 08:12:59 AM PDT

Opponents of the recently-approved Wal-Mart store in Suisun decided Saturday to move forward with a recall effort against some members of City Council.

More than 40 people reportedly attended the community meeting, which was put on at Grace Baptist Church by a group calling itself Save Our Suisun. Those assembled decided in favor of a recall effort aimed at Suisun City Mayor Pete Sanchez, as well as council members Jane Day and Mike Hudson.

The other two council members, Mike Segala and Sam Derting, are not being included in the recall push because they are up for re-election in November.

Describing the group that came together on Saturday, Suisun Citizens' League member Dwight Acey said, "They were very, very energized."The group's main grievance is the council's unanimous approval of a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which is to be located at Highway 12 and Walters Road.

In a press release this week, opponents claimed that council members "disregarded public safety warnings by aviation experts and other land-use professionals when they approved the controversial project."

Acey said the intent is to file the necessary paperwork in the coming days and to begin gathering signatures "within a week or so." He added that the goal is to collect 3,000 signatures over the next month.

Note from Save Our Suisun: Please go to our website for future news: http://www.saveoursuisun.com

No removal of airport panel chair By Danny Bernardini/Staff Writer Article Launched: 02/21/2008 06:16:08 AM PST

A motion to remove John Foster as Solano County Airport Land Use Commission chair died Wednesday night on a 3-3 vote by Solano County's mayors. The issue to remove Foster was discussed during the mayors' Solano County City Selection Committee meeting in Fairfield. Click here for rest of story.

VACAVILLE REPORTER: Council must be sure of its numbers http://www.thereporter.com//ci_8224016?IADID=Search-www.thereporter.com-www.thereporter.com

(EDITORIAL 2/10/2008) For months, the question of whether a Wal-Mart Supercenter should be built on the northwest corner of Walters Road and Highway 12 has divided Suisun City. But when Suisun's City Council meets Tuesday to resolve the issue, it must consider more than its own municipal matters. The project's potential encroachment on Travis Air Force Base is of countywide concern.

The possible conflict with Travis came to light when the Solano County Airport Land Use Commission rejected the project in November on the grounds that it could draw more people to the 20-acre site than is acceptable under the base's Land Use Compatibility Plan.

That plan restricts development around the air base, mostly for safety reasons. The site in question is inside "Zone C," which limits the number of people at any site to an average of 75 per acre, with no more than 300 within any one acre at any given time. Depending on how they are calculated, estimates for the project in question - which includes a Wal-Mart Supercenter, a sit-down restaurant and a gas station - come out at well below the limits, pushing the limits or over the limits.

There are legitimate differences in the way estimates are made. But as a consequence, those in favor of the project are inclined to use the methods that produce low numbers, while those opposed to the superstore base their calculations on the methods that produces high numbers. It is imperative for the Suisun City Council to base its decisions on realistic calculations, no matter on which side of the limit they fall.

What the council should not do is downplay the Land Use Compatibility Plan's restrictions, as the consultant who prepared the final environmental impact report suggests. That report claims the standards set around Travis are arbitrary and more restrictive than the state of California requires.

If they are more restrictive, it is because the citizens of Solano County years ago agreed to protect Travis Air Force Base so that future Base Realignment and Closure commissions could not use incursion as an excuse to shut down the county's largest employer. Remember, Travis contributes more than $1 billion to the local economy each year.

As the environmental impact report points out, Travis has a decent safety record - only five crashes since the base opened, none in the vicinity of the proposed Wal-Mart - and the store won't lie directly in the flight path. The report also notes that planes flying in and out of Travis are too heavy to be blown off course, but that assumes only the big planes will be flying in and out of there in the future. Plus, should Travis ever be pulled out, the county will almost certainly want to explore the possibility of using the site as a regional airport. Unwise incursions now could affect that decision down the road.

Councilmembers will have tough choices to make on Tuesday. Suisun City certainly needs the tax base a Wal-Mart store would bring. But the entire county needs Travis, and the city must not do anything to jeopardize the air base.

Wal-Mart Gets Planner Ok Despite Huge Public Outcry About 'Safety'

Ignoring safety concerns of scores of residents who fear a new Wal-Mart project here could lead to deaths along adjacent "Blood Alley," or from low-flying planes from Travis Air Base or a buried jet pipeline, the Suisun City Planning Commission recommended Tuesday night the controversial project be approved by the City Council.

The decision to rubber stamp the Environmental Impact Report at a hearing attended by an overflow crowd of 150 residents was not unexpected. The planners made it clear that hoped-for sales taxes were more important than the environment or lives of residents. Speakers even questioned the tax gain, saying stores in Suisun and Fairfield would "cannibalize" each other.

The next step is approval by the Suisun City Council Feb. 12. It will first have to vote, by a four-fifths margin, to override the Solano County Airport Land Use Commission, which refused to approve the 227,000 square foot project because, the ALUC said, the project is too big to be that close to Travis Air Force Base.

The ALUC ruled the project was "unsafe," and would encroach upon the base something that could cause the military to move the base, a major concern for 65,000 military retirees in the county. Travis AFB is the county's largest employer ($1.1 billion a year, 14,000 jobs).

"This is the biggest project in town. It will be the biggest disaster in town," charged Dwight Acey, chair of Suisun Citizens League, one of the community groups opposed to the project. He said the EIR shows there will be as many as 70,000 additional vehicle trips along Highway 12 known as "Blood Alley" because of all the accidents making it even more dangerous.

Resident Anthony Moscarelli citing letters from a national pipeline trust said there are major issues about a buried jet fuel pipeline within feet of the project. "There's not one mention of the fuel pipeline danger," he said, adding the city may be liable for damages, and that an increase in insurance coverage would eat up all of the anticipated sales tax gains.

"I object to my neighbors who will be killed by the project," said Wayne Monger, a geologist who lives near the site, and Paul GreenLee of Suisun Alliance, said "People in the community have said we do not want it. It does not fit our city." Another speaker called the decision a "betrayal" of the people. Another called for a "recall" of elected officials.

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com

Tags: Business, Politics, top news, california

Suisun council must be sure of its numbers Article Launched: 02/10/2008 07:33:12 AM PST

For months, the question of whether a Wal-Mart Supercenter should be built on the northwest corner of Walters Road and Highway 12 has divided Suisun City. But when Suisun's City Council meets Tuesday to resolve the issue, it must consider more than its own municipal matters. The project's potential encroachment on Travis Air Force Base is of countywide concern. The possible conflict with Travis came to light when the Solano County Airport Land Use Commission rejected the project in November on the grounds that it could draw more people to the 20-acre site than is acceptable under the base's Land Use Compatibility Plan.

Depending on how they are calculated, estimates for the project in question - which includes a Wal-Mart Supercenter, a sit-down restaurant and a gas station - come out at well below the limits, pushing the limits or over the limits.

It is imperative for the Suisun City Council to base its decisions on realistic calculations, no matter on which side of the limit they fall.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, February 11, 2008 Contact: Cres Vellucci, spokesperson, Suisun Citizens League, 916.996-9170 (cell)

Attention: Daybook/Assignment Desk

SALES TAX or COMMUNITY SAFETY? Wal-Mart project, deemed 'unsafe' by state agency & airport oversight group, is up for final vote on Tuesday

SUISUN CITY – With the threat of a recall hanging over its head, the Suisun City Council will decide whether to put sales tax revenue over and above the safety of its residents when the Council meets TUESDAY at 5 p.m. at Suisun City Hall (701 Civic Center Blvd) to decide whether to approve a controversial Wal-Mart Superstore project.

There will be a 4:30 p.m. NEWS BRIEFING by neighborhood groups, who have threatened to recall council members if they vote for the project over community concerns.

The independent Solano County Airport Land Use Commission already rejected the Wal-Mart project in November for "safety" reasons because the project interfered with the Travis Air Force Base "compatibility plan." The Cal TRANS Aeronautics Division supports the "safety concern" recommendation.

But, the Suisun City Council is considering overriding the ALUC safety determination because the city wants the tax money from the development. The Council could vote Tuesday with a "super-majority" to take the highly unusual step of overriding the ACLC, which consists of many pilots and other safety members who called the project too "unsafe" to build.

"It's a simple matter of the city and staff believing the hoped-for taxes will offset the risk to us, the residents. That's wrong," said Dwight Acey chair of the Suisun Citizens League.

Acey also said the City will never see those big tax proceeds. A Dixon councilperson Monday said his town is only getting a fraction of what they anticipated from a Wal-Mart Supercenter which opened there in 2005, and warned Suisun City officials to be wary.

Suisun City residents also cite high traffic danger (Wal-Mart will be located just off Highway 12, known as "blood alley" because of the high number of accidents), pollution, threat to nearby wetlands, noise and an underground fuel pipeline located next to the Wal-Mart.

URGENT NEWS ADVISORY Sunday, February 10, 2008 Contact: Cres Vellucci, CIPI Strategies, 916.996-9170 (cell)

More bad economic news; Wal-Mart either failing, or under-reporting sales & robbing city of taxes, Dixon councilmember to charge Monday

DIXON – Wal-Mart is either grossly under-performing , or is cheating the city of Dixon out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes a year, a member of the Dixon City Council will allege at a major news conference here Monday.

Details of the charges will be revealed at Monday, Feb. 11, at 11:45 a.m., at the Dixon Wal-Mart main entrance (235 E. Dorset Drive, off Highway 80).

Councilmember Michael C. Smith, in a letter late last week, warned the mayor and city council of Suisun City to "verify" lofty claims made by Wal-Mart that it would generate as much as $800,000 in sales tax the first year of operation in Suisun.

City officials in Suisun have said they need the projected sales tax revenue from the project, and the taxes would mitigate the safety concerns of residents and the Solano County Airport Land Use Commission that rejected the project for "safety" reasons.

Suisun will vote Tuesday on whether to approve the controversial Wal-Mart project over the objections of numerous neighborhood groups, who have cited safety concerns over the proximity of Travis Air Force Base, a buried jet fuel pipeline and increased traffic on so-called "Blood Alley" on Highway 12 where the project is to be built.

Councilmember Smith said his investigation now shows that rather than hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue, Dixon has seen only a tiny fraction of that since Wal-Mart opened in 2003, and expanded to a Superstore in 2005.

"We received the same rosy picture of hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional sales tax now being floated to the city of Suisun," said Smith, who will make public details of his probe on Monday.

Officials May Fire Commission Pilots Who Rejected Wal-Mart Project

Elected officials here are ignoring warnings about a public safety threat from a Wal-Mart Supercenter project and instead have initiated a plan to oust military pilots sitting on a county airport commission which voted in November to oppose the project because of those same safety concerns.

A news conference will be held TUESDAY, 10 a.m. at the Solano County Board of Supervisors Meeting (675 Texas Street), regarding not-too-secret plans to "decapitate" the Solano County Airport Land Use Commission (SCALUC) leadership for political reasons. Click here for the rest of the story

Wal-Mart Gets Planner Ok Despite Huge Public Outcry About 'Safety'

Toll free Hot line Available to Help Mercado Workers

California Healthy Communities Network has announced it has established a free "hotline" for Mercado workers to obtain help if they are being exploited, abused, sexually harassed, underpaid or otherwise mistreated in their workplace. Workers or supporters can call the hotline without fear of recrimination at work or by authorities.

That number is toll free 1-866-917-5605

What is the California Healthy Communities Network?

The California Healthy Communities Network (CALHCN) is a project of the Tides Center, an independent nonprofit organization registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) public charity. CALHCN is made up of organizations and individuals who share common concerns regarding poorly planned, environmentally unsustainable, economically discriminatory and socially unjust land use and development practices in California. There is also a deep commitment to social justice and economic rights for communities. The Network’s goal is to advance the interests of communities in the State of California by projecting a unified voice in support of programs and policies that set new standards and raise the bar for the people of California.

The Network is organized around a simple idea - that at strategic moments our many organizations should join forces around a clearly articulated agenda to promote and uphold the rights of a healthy community.

A wide-range of organizations have joined the Network, from social service agencies and churches to labor unions, community-based organizations, environmental organizations and civil rights groups. Importantly, the Network’s membership reaches beyond traditional alliances, bringing a broader set of forces to bear on issues around which we can all unite.

Role Of The Network

Our Network stands for three main objectives to ensure the rights of healthy communities:

Process Reform
Engaging in reforming development standards to address community needs through the voice of citizens, taxpayers and organizations of the community
Raising standards (a partial list)
Opposition to development that promotes or encourages community blight
Promote living wage jobs and social justice for communities
Address important equity concerns of communities
Promote transportation choices and affordable housing

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: info@calhcn.org