Apparently, Wal-Mart wants to be a nation unto itself. After trying to get the Inglewood, CA, town council to approve a new store, Wal-Mart is putting the issue in front of voters.
Inglewood voters go to the polls on Tuesday to decide whether to turn over 60 acres of barren concrete adjacent to the Hollywood Park racetrack to Wal-Mart to create a mega store and a collection of chain shops and restaurants.
While the issue alone isn't too out of the ordinary, the fine print is just that.
While Wal-Mart has turned to the ballot in a number of cities and towns to win the right to build its giant emporiums, the Inglewood initiative is significantly different. The proposal would essentially exempt Wal-Mart from all of Inglewood's planning, zoning and environmental regulations, creating a city-within-a-city subject only to its own rules.
Wal-Mart is planning on spending $1 million to get this thing passed. Now, the town council is a group of elected officials. The people select those they see fit to govern and voice town concerns. Unions, local citizens, and some business owners seem to be strongly against it. The group with the most money and power, the unions, might not be concerned with the local interests.
Unions all over the country are struggling to get some power over the mega corporations. Wal-Mart is staunchly anti-union. They claim that not having unionized workers helps them offer products at the lowest possible prices. While this may or may not be true, it is something to add to the equation of this problem.
How much power should Wal-Mart have? It's the number one company on the Fortune 500. They employ more people then many of the other top companies combined. Product manufacturers have to redesign whole product lines just to get their stuff on store shelves.
One thing is for sure, though. The people love to shop at Wal-Mart. Many citizens cheer the opening of a new Super Center, even if it means their neighbor's local grocery might close down. But the strategy of building stores outside of metropolitan areas has paid off. Poorer people usually live in the area surrounding the stores, and they welcome the lower prices Wal-Mart offers.
But is lower prices reason enough to let Wal-Mart make their own rules? In fairness, the mayor of Inglewood is all for the project.
[The mayor] said the complex would bring more than 1,000 new permanent jobs, add $3 million to $5 million a year to the distressed city's tax base and provide a revenue stream to finance as much as $100 million in new bonds. "We're talking about a new police station, a new community and cultural center, a new park in District 4, upgrades for every park and recreation area in Inglewood," [Mayor] Dorn said. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a no-brainer."
In trying economic times, people tend to do anything to get through. But is giving a corporation free reign a good idea? Competition is a good thing. But how can anyone compete with a company who can afford to get an issue passed that will exempt it from local laws?
If the issue passed, it will surely set a precedent. Let's see how many other companies opt for this extreme measure.