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3 Candidates Hope to Rout Wal-Mart

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Times Staff Writer

A 23-acre plot of gravel and grass has caused a political divide in Rosemead, where the campaign for three City Council seats has largely become a referendum on plans to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Three incumbents helped approve the plan in September. Now three challengers opposed to the development hope to win the seats in Tuesday’s election.

But even if the challengers prevail, it’s unclear whether the project could be stopped.

The challengers have received support from the AFL-CIO, several other unions and U.S. Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-El Monte) and state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), who attended a rally Saturday to encourage participation in an election that typically draws just several thousand voters. Afterward, about 100 residents, union members and community activists fanned out to canvass the city with fliers.

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Wal-Mart has contributed more than $23,000 to the reelection of the incumbents, including two recent mailers, said Peter Kanelos, regional director for community affairs for Wal-Mart. By comparison, the retail giant has contributed just $1,000 to one candidate, City Councilman Bernard Parks, in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, he said.

“Rosemead has much more impact because we can be much more involved,” Kanelos said.

The Wal-Mart debate has created an unusually heated political season in the city of 53,000 residents, candidates on both sides said. Seven candidates are vying for council seats that four years ago went unopposed.

“Normally it’s just boring, humdrum elections,” said Councilman Joe Vasquez, who has been on the council for 13 years. “As long as I’ve been here, I’ve never seen this.”

By Saturday, city officials said 2,000 absentee ballots had been sent out, and some expect a record turnout. Both sides allege that the election has included misleading and negative campaigning. “This is probably the most outside money that I’ve ever seen,” said Mayor Margaret Clark, who is seeking reelection.

Rosemead is the latest electoral battleground to pit unions and community groups against the world’s largest retailer. Last April, Inglewood voters overwhelmingly defeated an initiative put on the ballot by Wal-Mart that would have allowed a new development there without an environmental review or public hearing. The company spent $1 million in that campaign.

The site for the Rosemead development straddles a geological fault in the southern portion of the city. It is bordered by an elementary school and residences, commercial buildings and a golf course.

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The political fault lines are familiar. Proponents say the Wal-Mart will bring 400 new jobs, hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for the city and a much-needed grocery store. Opponents predict traffic jams and the demise of local businesses.

Save Our Community, a neighborhood group opposed to the project, said its efforts to reason with the current City Council have been rebuffed. “It’s the respect they did not get from the council that is driving this,” said Polly Low, one of the challengers. The group is backing her, John Tran and John Nunez.

Council members, who voted 5 to 0 to approve the project, said the neighborhood group’s concerns do not reflect the desires of the broader community, which recently lost its only chain grocery store. Mayor Clark and Councilmen Bill Alarcon and Vasquez think their support for Wal-Mart will help them hold on to their seats.

Another challenger, Dennis McDonald, is running without the support of Wal-Mart or unions, and favors the project.

Some rally participants Saturday who live closest to the site seemed the most concerned.

“I’m voting on this issue. I’m that upset,” said Lynda Harbert, 53, who lives two blocks away. She said her real estate agent told her the value of her house will go down by $10,000 if the store is built. “The thought of having a 24-hour Wal-Mart down the block scares me.”

A mile away, at the Diamond Square shopping area, some residents and shop owners were less concerned.

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“Rosemead is a lot of second-generation Chinese families,” said Vinh Ngo, 31, a bank executive. “Most of the folks here shop Asian. These stores will be around forever because they cater to the community.”

The Ranch Market there sells items not typically found in Wal-Marts: live striped bass, lotus root, boiled salted duck eggs and 50-pound bags of rice.

Jenny Suang, who sells jade trinkets, brass statuettes and feng shui supplies, pointed at her goods and asked, “Does Wal-Mart sell this?”

Despite the debate, it is unclear what a new group of council members could do to prevent the project, which has already been granted the permits it needs to build. A lawsuit contesting the project’s environmental impact report could be resolved in April.

“We will start construction soon,” said Wal-Mart official Kanelos.

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