(The movie was good, I also recommend Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch — get ready for the trolls. – promoted by blogswarm)
On November 28th, the San Diego City Council voted in favor of banning Wal-Mart Superstores (spotted by Todd Beeton at Calitics as well) citing low-wage jobs, traffic congestion and the demise of mom-and-pop stores as reason to keep the biggest of the Big Boxes outside of San Diego. This was, perhaps sadly, one of the bigger political stories of my several years in San Diego, with friends and foes of discount superstores crowding into the public hearing to plead their cases. That Walmart would come out on the wrong end of this in San Diego of all places is pretty impressive, as we find our progressive moments to be few and far between. But as is generally the case when some combination of evil corporations, politics and California combine, it looks as though we’re heading for an expensive legal campaign and an even more expensive disinformation campaign as Walmart fights back. This is a battle that we’re going to have to fight and win eventually if a progressive agenda is going to have a prayer in this country, and since the fight in Chicago has come and gone, perhaps we can seize on this one to create and hone strategy.
First, to set the stage. The Council’s vote was 5-3 in favor, sending it to Mayor Jerry Sanders who has no interest in slowing down development or corporations. Sanders has made clear that he’ll veto the measure in January, but if the 5 votes hold, the veto would be overriden. This ban is very carefully designed to only ban the largest of Walmart stores, leaving untouched the “normal” sized stores and similar big-boxers such as Target, Lowes, Costco, etc. Walmart has a long history of taking fights with local governments to the courts and the ballot boxes, and while they’re not saying anything one way or another, we can expect them to not go quietly here.
It’s clear from many of the opinions expressed at the City Council meeting and from random conversations I’ve had around town that the economic ramifications of a Walmart economy. People are very much convinced that these low prices sustain them, and the problem of course is that in most tangible ways, that’s true. There’s no doubt in my mind that this will be the crux of Walmart’s inevitable media blitz once the City Council reaffirms their vote. It’s tough to combat an argument of “they want to raise prices,” especially since it sounds so much like “they want to raise your taxes.”
In an article last week running down the future possibilities, it turns out
One well-known Republican political consultant, who requested anonymity, has already tried to contact the company about working on a referendum, but said the company has not responded to his request. Others in the political community expect the company to wait for the council vote on overriding the mayoral veto — which would take just the same five votes that were needed to pass the ban — before announcing its plans.
The article goes on to suggest that local labor organizations are likely to be major players in any potential referendum action, speculating that “you would see them organize like never before.” If it comes to this, it’s a great opportunity to roll out the growing netroots/labor ties and start building more and stronger bridges between online activism and grassroots activism. Most importantly though, it presents an opportunity for the netroots to expand its collective purview beyond straight electoral politics. As we continue finding our way through the inevitable post-election “what do we do with ourselves” period, I would suggest that the best way to become relevant even when there isn’t an election is to take on more of the day-to-day stuff that keeps the grassroots in business. Not only do we build progressive infrastructure and step up the hearts-and-minds battle, but the netroots becomes an indispensable ally of the existing grassroots process.
As far as I’ve always understood it, Walmart undercuts everything about a strong and functional local economy. When it first comes to town, people love the bargains, but as the independent stores with higher wages start getting undercut and going out of business, gradually Walmart’s prices aren’t bargains anymore. Suddenly, Walmart is all that people can afford. Obviously this is why a ballot proposition is the most frightening option- this economic cycle is already well established in San Diego and people rely on these prices to get by. But an education campaign can change that. Going forward, I mostly hope that this issue, at least broadly if not specifically in San Diego, gains more attention. The netroots is best as the place where talking points are proposed, refined and distributed, so the more we talk about this, the better equipped people on the ground will be when we all start lobbying our friends and neighbors on this issue. For all the expanding capabilities of the netroots, serving as a bullhorn is still what we’re best at, so let’s begin to shout. People deserve better than a Walmart society, and San Diego is the coming battle.
