Council Deadlocks on Funds for Northwest Area Store

The City Council failed to approve spending $400,000 Monday to bring a Rite Aid to the economically depressed northwest area, igniting the wrath of Mayor Chris Holden.

Council members deadlocked 3 to 3 on a plan to pay the owners of an auto repair shop $400,000 in city money to relocate so the pharmacy chain could move onto the southeast corner of Orange Grove Boulevard and Fair Oaks Avenue.

Councilman William Crowfoot, who could have broken the tie, was absent.

Holden accused his colleagues of abandoning the people in his northwest district in a rare expression of anger. He accused colleagues of adhering to a double standard, eager to spend city money in the more affluent neighborhoods.

Council members Paul Little, Ann-Marie Villicana and Sidney F. Tyler Jr. opposed the Rite Aid plan. Little said the auto shop owner was getting more than enough money from Rite Aid--$2 million--for the property.