As a newly elected member of the Gilroy City Council, I’ve made
no secret of my serious questions about the proposed Wal-Mart
Supercenter on Highway 152.
As a newly elected member of the Gilroy City Council, I’ve made no secret of my serious questions about the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter on Highway 152.
Supporters of the store admit that the construction of another auto-oriented big box store will generate air pollution beyond legal limits. But a loophole in the state clean air law says that the City Council can find that there are “overriding economic considerations” which make it OK to violate these limits. And on Tuesday, the Council will be asked to declare that there are, in fact, sufficient benefits from the project to permit increased air pollution.
And just what are those “overriding economic benefits?”
Revenue? The revenue that Wal-Mart says they are going to produce is going to come, at least in part, from other Gilroy stores. I think you are going to see a significant drop in business at other supermarkets, for example, and therefore a significant loss in sales tax revenue. Some of these stores say they will have to close. But, will we actually increase the amount of revenue coming to the city to pay for the parks, police and other services we need? By how much? And is it worth the damage we are going to do to our kids’ lungs by creating even more highway traffic in our community?
Jobs? The jobs Wal-Mart brings to town will be low-wage, low-benefit jobs. I know that on Tuesday Wal-Mart representatives will tell us that they have great pay and benefits. I’ll believe that when they show me the numbers. What is the average rate of pay? What’s the entry level rate of pay? Please don’t come to City Hall, as you have in the past, telling me that Wal-Mart pays “competitive” wages. Competitive with what? Don’t tell me that “Wal-Mart employees have access to health care benefits.” Tell me what the benefits are, and how much they cost, how much Wal-Mart contributes, and what they provide.
Low prices? No doubt about it. But I want to see the data that compares the gain from low prices to the loss from the destruction of good jobs, the cost to taxpayers of subsidizing the health care of Wal-Mart employees, and the cost of the environmental damage that we are being asked to approve.
Is there really an overriding economic consideration which makes it OK to increase air pollution. The city staff has not made the case. The last economic impact study was done in 1992, and is now irrelevant. We have a new report by the prestigious Bay Area Economic Forum, approved by an outstanding panel of experts, which raises serious questions about the claimed benefits.
On the other hand, Wal-Mart recently released its own Economic Impact Report, a week before the Feb. 17 Council hearing, with no time for the public, city staff and existing businesses to review and comment on it. Why did they wait until the last possible minute – without informing the planning commission, the Council or the public? In my opinion, city staff or an objective third party, not related to the proponents or opponents of the Wal-Mart supercenter should review and comment. The release of this new report at the last second, without the opportunity for review, is completely inappropriate and insulting to our community.
We have not established the facts. What is the impact of a Wal-Mart supercenter in a city like Gilroy? How have supercenters affected similar communities? The Council needs to slow down, take a deep breath and commission a neutral economic report, paid for by Wal-Mart, before deciding that a little more pollution, a little more congestion and a little more asthma is OK. And if Gilroy is going to approve the superstore based on “overriding economic considerations,” we need Wal-Mart to become a better corporate citizen by increasing their charitable giving to local non-profit organizations and by addressing the proposed mitigations found in Environmental Impact Report to offset the negative impacts of the superstore.
Guest columnist Paul Correa is a member of the Gilroy City Council.
