CCMIN020712 - Laserfiche WebLink

John Milligan, Safeway employee, said Pleasanton is a great town and it needs to maintain the businesses it already has. He said many Safeway employees cannot afford to lose their jobs just because WalMart can offer incredibly cheap goods. Pleasanton is a family oriented community and it needs to stay that way. Kathleen McQuade said she hopes everybody can see Pleasanton as a whole City and not every development is right just because it is new. Many people see the downtown representing small business, community values, and the city as a Community of Character. The City should not promote and get behind a company that does not pay women the same amount of money as men. Most products that WalMart sells come from other countries and this should not be promoted to students who also shop downtown as merchants. Derek Wensky said he grew up in Pleasanton and got his first job at the Rosewood Drive WalMart. WalMart has been supportive of him going to UC Davis, graduating, and being part of the leadership academy where they sent him around the country to learn about WalMart culture and more about retail operations. He would like to see more of these opportunities in the younger generation and supported the project. Robin Moran said 24 years ago there were only 2 or 3 grocery stores in the town. She spoke of her friends and a relative struck with cancer who was supported by the strength of their union during difficult times and feels there are already too many grocery stores in Pleasanton. Hours have been reduced at all grocery stores and while adding a WalMart adds jobs, it also deletes jobs at stores in other locations and hurts other parts of the community. Kerry Sigman asked the Council to consider adopting a CUP ordinance, given WalMart's plans to expand and encourage more non-taxable goods stores. The permit would allow time and a vehicle for the Council to decide if these kinds of stores are appropriate for Pleasanton. Their historic downtown and local businesses need to be protected against an onslaught of chain retailers who have a record of putting local stores out of business and over-development will only bring more traffic, noise, and pollution to the town. Stella Peterson, Safeway employee, said their hours have been cut because of low sales and she struggles paying bills. The new store would be too close to the elementary school and has the potential to add an additional crime element to the neighborhood. It would encourage loitering and traffic safety impacts. She believed WalMart is bad for the overall economy due to the pressure it puts on smaller businesses. Its cheap goods come directly from China where near-slavery working conditions and miserable wages are encouraged, and they kill American jobs. She asked for promotion of companies that will provide well paying jobs and quality living standards and felt it was time to say 'no' to WalMart. Tom Mullarkey, Business Representative, Electrician's Union in Dublin, said he represents hundreds of workers and knows of the WalMart business model and how it has made its owners very rich. The company generates huge profits at the expense of their workers with low paying jobs and no benefits. They squeeze out their competition with incredible buying power and put other stores out of business. He asked the Council do whatever it can to prevent WalMart from coming to town and attacking existing grocery stores. Brenda Wood, AFSCME Council 57 and Alameda Central Labor Council, said they stand with the grocery store workers in asking the Council to vote against the introduction of a WalMart grocery store in Pleasanton. The town needs to attract businesses and companies that offer fair wages and benefits to their employees as well as healthy competition. Instead, WalMart offers a pariah business model for workers and other businesses to suffer, and she felt the Pleasanton community is better than this. Angela Wilmes said she, too, is opposed to WalMart. She favors a CUP ordinance and thinks the residents should have a say as to what comes to their city. There are many small, struggling City Council Minutes Page 3 of 25 February 7,2012