Wal-Mart Defeated in Santa Maria

In a stunning hearing and vote on Tuesday, the Santa Maria City Council unanimously voted against pursuing an application from Wal-Mart which would require zoning changes to build a 55-acre Super Center on the edge of Santa Maria.

The Council listened to over two hours of testimony for Santa Maria residents, mostly against Wal-Mart Santa Maria expansion and the zoning change. Wal-mart presented its usual full-court press with design schemes, happy worker testimonials, and one polished consultant from Arkansas. Wal-Mart organized about ½ of the people to the hearing, bussed in and early- most of the opponents were forced to sit outside the capacity room. The hearing was rowdy at times with applause after each speaker.

Just days before the hearing, about 150 people attended one of the Wal-mart film screenings that have been making their way around town. It appears that most of the people at the hearing saw the video or came from word of mouth. It was a tremendous display of the grassroots capacity that exists in Santa Maria, a town that has not elected a Democrat since 1987. Residents spoke about the importance of living wage jobs in the community, Wal-mart’s dismal record for gender discrimination, and the certainty that small businesses will go under.

The Santa Maria City Council is not know for its support of workers rights or living wages. Their decision to cut Wal-mart down at the starting line had more to do with their concern that a super Wal-Mart on the edge of town would suck business away from their downtown core that the City is currently trying to revitalize. Nevertheless, Santa Maria (like Inglewood a couple of years ago) was no “easy target” for Wal-Mart to build one of their targeted 20 gigantic super centers in California.