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.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday April 09, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 33 words Type of Material: Correction
Wal-Mart vote -- A Section A article Wednesday about the Inglewood electorate's rejection of Wal-Mart's proposed Supercenter referred to St. Michael Catholic Church as being in Inglewood. St. Michael is in Los Angeles.
"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.
