The proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in Gilroy
’s Pacheco Pass Center is undergoing a gauntlet of Planning
Commission and City Council meetings.
The proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in Gilroy’s Pacheco Pass Center is undergoing a gauntlet of Planning Commission and City Council meetings.
We encourage city commissioners and council members to ask every tough question this project raises – and there are many. These officials are charged with protecting the quality of life in Gilroy, and in order to evaluate the impact the discount retailing giant’s plans will have on our community, every issue surrounding the controversial retailer needs to be addressed.
Despite the tight economic times, the question of allowing a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Gilroy is not just a dollars-and-cents issue. It’s a decision that will shape Gilroy and to some degree the entire South Valley for decades, and it is incumbent upon city leaders to take a long-term perspective as they evaluate this project.
Wal-Mart critics point to the company’s controversial employment practices – they allege low wages, mistreatment of women, poor benefits, active discouragement of organized labor – as deplorable. The company has been accused of providing jobs with such low pay and such poor benefits that its workers frequently qualify for medical benefits from Medicare and MediCal – meaning taxpayers are covering those workers’ health benefits, not Wal-Mart.
The Planning Commission and City Council needs to ask sharp questions and demand specific answers about the kind of jobs a Super Wal-Mart will bring, and evaluate the kinds of jobs its presence might eliminate.
Wal-Mart critics say the company has a history of closing stores without finding new tenants, leaving communities with gaping retail holes in their landscapes. We’d hate to see Gilroy suffer the same fate, especially given the current store’s prominent location next the outlets and facing U.S. 101. An empty storefront in that key location would send the wrong message to shoppers about the state of Gilroy’s retail businesses.
From the first, we’ve said the city should not approve a Super Wal-Mart until a long-term tenant is secured for its current building. Wal-Mart officials have apparently sold their building on Arroyo Circle to a real estate developer, but there are no details about what kind of businesses will take up residence there.
The Planning Commission and City Council must demand answers about what will fill the company’s present building before any decision is made about the company’s plans for a new facility. That information is part of the equation these bodies must evaluate before they make a decision, and the information must be made public and held up to scrutiny.
Wal-Mart has so far found it difficult to gain approval in any Northern California community for its Supercenters, which feature a full grocery store and a traditional Wal-Mart.
Concerns about predatory pricing allegations, about the impact the store will have on existing grocers – small and large – about allegations of merchandise made in overseas sweat shops are not insignificant. These questions need to be asked and addressed in a reasoned manner as part of evaluating the entire Wal-Mart proposal.
Wal-Mart representatives will tout the company’s sales tax contributions to city coffers, the jobs it brings to town, the donations it makes to local non-profit groups – and we don’t doubt that those things should count in the company’s favor as its Supercenter proposal is evaluated. But the other side of that coin demands a close look, too.
After the difficult, sometimes uncomfortable, frequently controversial issues are discussed, only then will our appointed and elected officials be able to answer the most pertinent question for our city: Will a Super Wal-Mart be good for Gilroy?
If it the answer is yes, and the project meets Gilroy’s zoning and land-use requirements, then approve the project. If the answer is no, then deny it.
