Politics & Government

Local Leaders Want 'Kill Walmart Act' Killed

Southwest Riverside County leaders argued Friday that economic impact analysis of big-box superstores mandated under SB 469 is a job killer and sets a dangerous precedent.

Leaders from Southwest Riverside County urged Gov. Jerry Brown Friday to kill the "Kill Walmart Act."

During a joint press conference Friday morning at the Temecula Chamber of Commerce, Lake Elsinore City Treasurer Allen Baldwin, Wildomar Mayor Pro Tem Ben Benoit, Murrieta Mayor Randon Lane, Menifee City Councilwoman Darci Kuenzi and Southwest California Legislative Council Chairman Gene Wunderlich spoke against SB 469, calling for a veto on grounds that the legislation sets a dangerous precedent for the state to step on local municipalities.

“Californians just can’t afford this,” Kuenzi said. “It’s totally unnecessary.”

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The bill, introduced by Sen. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego), limits superstores from building in California without an economic impact analysis being conducted beforehand. The legislation, dubbed by some as the "Kill Walmart Act," is awaiting the governor's signature.

The bill's proponents say the legislation aims to protect small businesses from being squeezed out by big-box superstores.

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“The goal of this bill is to create financial accountability and the transparency that local communities need to make land use decisions about the impact giant supercenters have on existing businesses, jobs, public services and neighborhoods,” according to a backgrounder from Vargas’ Chief of Staff Jim Anderson.

“Small and neighborhood businesses are important financial elements to every local economy and function as the backbone to these economies. It’s important to inform the public about the consequence that these superstores pose on small and neighborhood businesses before a superstore developer comes into a community and potentially imposes a risk to the local neighborhoods.

“This bill requires an honest assessment of the economic impact of proposed superstores; however, this bill does not prescribe the local government to take any specific action based on the findings of an assessment,” Anderson’s report stated.

But on Friday the Southwest Riverside leaders argued the bill diminishes local control.

“The state should not impose on local government,” Wunderlich said. “We must be able to make our own decisions.”

“It’s laughable,” said Lane, who argued that state government is in a fiscal crisis and has little legitimacy in dictating local policy. He said local municipalities understand local needs. Of the lawmakers who passed SB 469 Lane said, “The majority have never stepped foot in my town.”

The Southwest Riverside County leaders argued that the assessment process mandated under the bill would invite lawsuits, stall development and harm local job creation.

“It’s another layer of bureaucracy,” Wunderlich said.

In Lake Elsinore, none of the businesses lining Main Street or located in strip centers are harmed by superstores, according to Baldwin.

“None of them have the same products as Walmart does,” he said, arguing that the big-box retailers are an integral part of the local economy.

"They [big-box retailers] are very much a part of the leadership in our community," he said.

"Our residents want these stores," Kuenzi added.

Benoit urged that the bill would not work at the local level. He pointed to the , which was given the green light by local leaders to move forward but has since been stalled by a lawsuit.

“That’s between 15 and 30 jobs -- just from Subway -- that won’t be created as a result of this lawsuit,” he said.

Wunderlich said any job creation is important in Riverside County, where unemployment hovers above 14 percent. Whether it’s high-paying jobs or low-paying service jobs, “you’re happy to have any,” Wunderlich said.

Groups and municipalities that have railed against SB 469 include City of Los Angeles, League of California Cities, California Urban Partnership, and others. Support for SB 469 comes from California Small Business Association, Small Business California, California Labor Federation, California Nurses Association, California School Employees Association and others.


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