THE STOP WAL-MART VENTURA COALITION has earned a place on the fall 2009 ballot for its anti-big box initiative and may have even collected enough signatures to trigger a special election at the beginning of next year.

A random sample of the almost 13,000 signatures submitted to the County Elections Division showed an estimated 9,000 of the signatures could be valid; 8,900 signatures are needed for a special election, something organizers were hoping to avoid. Elections workers will now need to go through each petition by hand for an exact count to determine when the measure will ultimately go to voters.

Coalition organizer and Santa Barbara City Councilman Das Williams said he doubts a special election will be triggered.

"We do not believe that much more than two thirds are valid," Williams said. "It was a tough decision as to when we stopped gathering signatures. If we had turned in fewer, we would have risked not qualifying. We felt better erring on the side of more. The advantage of having 15 percent and a special election would be to have this law on the books before Wal-Mart can move in, but the disadvantage is the possible cost to the city. That's why we stopped the effort early, because we would rather save the city taxpayers some money."

A special election could potentially cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars extra.

IRONICALLY THE GROUP which was hoping to trigger a special election for its own measure, the Ventura Citizens' Organization for Responsible Development (VCORD), was unable to produce enough signatures to do so. The view-protection initiative will go to the voters in the fall of 2009, even though the city is currently working toward the same goals through its own view protection task force. The members of that group will be ratified on Sept. 8 and should produce guidelines for the Council to vote on as early as next spring, well before VCORD's measure can be voted on, rendering it essentially moot.

I've always thought the Stop Wal-Mart Ventura Coalition's efforts were somewhat moot, too. Our own General Plan and upcoming Victoria Corridor Plan forbid big-box development at the old K-Mart site, anyway. What the initiative will do is keep a Wal-Mart Supercenter from popping up in another area where zoning would allow that sort of development, such as near our Auto Center. Wal-Mart likely does not want to be there. They'll either walk away or take over the existing 90,000-square-foot K-Mart space, something the initiative can't prevent. But that will be largely due to our city's own citizen-generated General Plan.

I'm not a particular fan of initiatives. Bad laws are often made when special interests take over the public policy process. It could also be argued that special interests influence some of our legislators too much through campaign donations. However, this has not traditionally been the case in Ventura municipal elections which are often run on shoestring budgets.

But it is safe to say that many initiatives are generated by those who feel powerless to influence public policy any other way and are particularly devoted to a cause.

"12,875 signatures is something that we are very proud of, since it indicates the level of enmity Venturans have against Wal-Mart," Williams said.

I OPENED MY MAILBOX yesterday to find a letter from Aaron Rios, who's in charge of public affairs and government relations for Wal-Mart. It was addressed to Marie Lakin, Co-President, Ventura Education Partnership, and it was hand-signed and mailed to my home address.

Rios went on to say that as a "community leader," my advice and input was being sought about the possibility of a Wal-mart Supercenter going into the vacant K-Mart site on Victoria. He wrote that a follow-up phone call would be made to me to arrange a meeting.

Now I suppose I could've just kept quiet about the letter. Or I could've met with him to figure out what they're up to. Neither is quite my style.

Instead, I'm going to answer him through the blog and I probably won't make either the pro-Wal-Mart or the anti-Wal-Mart camps very happy.

Dear Mr. Rios,

Sincerely,
Marie Lakin

WAL-MART REPRESENTATIVES have recently asked the city's planning department what it would take to simply move into the old K-Mart building on Victoria Avenue without making any modifications in size.

"In recent weeks Wal-Mart representatives have again inquired about the rules for occupying the vacant K-Mart building," said City Manager Rick Cole. "We've reiterated the city's ordinances and procedures for processing that option. We've heard nothing definitive back from Wal-Mart about their plans and they have not submitted any application for any kind of permit."

According to Cole, the Arkansas-based retailer can't knock down any walls inside, but if all they do is repaint and redesign, they just need Design Review Committee approval and routine inspections.

The vacant K-mart building is approximately 100,000 square feet, much smaller than the typical Wal-Mart supercenter, which is usually 200,000 square feet or more. The company has already taken a 20-year lease on the property. Nearly a year ago, the retailer's representatives showed city staff a design for a 150,000-square-foot supercenter with groceries.

It would appear they are now considering the much smaller size which would conform to the city's General Plan which discourages large, big-box type retail in the Victoria Corridor and would also fit into the developing Victoria Corridor Plan.

Meanwhile, the Citizens to Preserve Ventura, a coalition of grassroots and labor groups, is in the process of circulating petitions to keep Wal-Mart away. They are calling for signatures to be turned in by Aug. 12 for an upcoming election, according to representatives who spoke at a meeting held last Wednesday for petition gathers. The election date has not yet been determined.

THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE IS AIMED at stopping a project of 90,000 square feet or more which devotes more than three percent of the sales floor area to the sale of non-taxable merchandise such as food. It would also prevent Wal-Mart from adding on to the existing building in the future, something that the upcoming Victoria Corridor Plan will likely do anyway.

"It prohibits a big-box retailer from sidestepping city process by 'piecemealing' a project, that is, opening up a smaller store now and expanding it later," said Das Williams, a Santa Barbara city councilman and legislative analyst for the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy.

The proposed ballot measure would also have stopped the new Target at the Pacific View Mall.

At the recent meeting, Williams reiterated his strong opposition to a Wal-Mart coming to town, citing the chain's reputation for driving small retailers out of business and paying low wages. "This would be like a stake in the heart to have a Wal-Mart in such a bastion of working families."

Others in town, however, welcome the added sales tax revenue in a time when the city's coffers are in need of a boost.

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THE HEADLINE STARTLED me when I first saw it, too: "Late-breaking news: Wal-Mart approved!" Knowing it to be untrue, I thought for a moment that Sheldon Brown, the owner of the new biweekly newspaper the Ventura Breeze, had lost his mind. But I read a bit further and realized it was part of a phony story he'd concocted as part of a April Fool's Day prank.

The joke was on Sheldon instead. I've always said that you can never underestimate the ability of the public to be only half-engaged. The Stop Wal-Mart Coalition, which is fighting to keep this retailer out of town, was "flooded with calls and emails" from folks worried that Wal-Mart had pulled a fast one, according to an email bulletin I received recently. I'll add a new saying to my repertoire: never underestimate the ability of Wal-Mart detractors to get all fired up.

It got worse. Monday night's City Council meeting brought out someone else who was appalled at the thought of this particular retailer slipping in the back door. Launching into a protest speech, he was quickly set straight by the council who assured him it was just a joke.

"Sheldon, we love ya, but don't do that again," warned Councilmember Carl Morehouse afterward.

Oops.

As an editor at my college newspaper the most fun I had every year was working on our April Fool's Day issue. One year we doctored a photo to make it look like a King Kong-sized squirrel was ready to demolish our school's landmark bell tower. This sort of tipped off our readers that we weren't exactly serious.

Sheldon's still learning the ropes of the newspaper business, too. He moved to Ventura not long ago to enjoy his retirement, only to get bored rather quickly. He and his daughter, Staci, launched the Breeze in October. Why? "I'm a lunatic," he explained. Sheldon's a nice guy. He never takes himself too seriously.

THE BREEZE IS FILLING a niche for local, homespun news that regional newspapers just can't fill any more. There's a section for police and fire reports, extensive local arts coverage and even an advice column "written" by a dog named Professor Scamp. I always pick it up and read it when I see it. Sheldon says he's employing about 10-12 people these days, all on a part-time basis.

He feels a little sheepish about the misunderstanding. The Breeze received angry phone calls about the April Fool's prank, mostly from anti-Wal-Mart folks. But nobody took it far enough to call City Hall to complain, according to Lysa Urban of the city's Civic Engagement Division.

Do we have another April Fool's page to look forward to next year? Sheldon wouldn't say, but in retrospect he thinks he should have perhaps led off with another topic this year.

My advice: No Wal-Mart jokes next time. And consider adding a giant squirrel.

IN WAL-MART founder Sam Walton's autobiography, completed shortly before he died in 1992, he wrote that Wal-Mart would never open in a town where it wasn't wanted.

The Citizens to Preserve Ventura, a renamed coalition of grassroots and labor groups, is hoping to force Walton's business heirs to make good on his promise. The coalition has drafted the toughest big-box ordinance ever and is launching a petition drive to get it on the Ventura ballot as soon as possible.

"We've definitely taken it a step forward and made it more stringent," said Jim Alger, Regional Coordinator of the Tri-Counties Labor Foundation, whose organization is helping the Ventura group and organized a press conference today. "It's to stop Wal-Mart altogether and not just a supercenter."

The ordinance would prevent a major retail project that sells goods and merchandise -- primarily for personal or household use -- and whose total sales floor area exceeds 90,000 square feet and which devotes more than three percent of the sales floor area to the sale of non-taxable merchandise such as food.

The ordinance would apply citywide and not just in the Victoria corridor, where Wal-Mart has previously indicated interest in building a multi-story supercenter at the now-vacant K-Mart building.

"Most importantly, it prohibits a big-box retailer from sidestepping city process by 'piecemealing' a project, that is, opening up a smaller store now and expanding it later," said Das Williams, a Santa Barbara city councilman and legislative analyst for the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy.

INTERESTINGLY, it would not apply to discount warehouse stores like Sam's Club or Costco. "We only want to stop the irresponsible ones," Alger said. Nor would it apply to any store which sells taxable items like electronics, furniture or sporting goods.

City officials have said that Wal-Mart has been silent of late about its intentions for the Victoria site. The company recently announced it would be slowing down the expansion of its supercenters and is rumored to be interested in pursuing much smaller stores which would not be affected by this ordinance. And the City Council recently took steps itself to limit the size of any one retail project along the busy Victoria corridor to 100,000 square feet.

It's very possible the Ventura group's efforts could be altogether moot. But as I watched them today fervently waving their signs under the bright Ventura sun, it was obvious they are up for a fight.

Update: Click here for the full text of the measure.

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I HAD to laugh a bit after the November municipal election when I heard complaints that the off-year contest didn't bring out enough voters and "our citizens just don't care." Nothing could be further from the truth in this little beach town. Citizen activism is alive and well when it comes to protecting the status quo.

If you look back at some of the most important land-use decisions made in the last 10 years for our community, all were initiated by groups of citizens passionate in protecting first our agricultural lands and then our hillsides from development.

Now we have two other groups working to save Ventura from development. In the name of view protection, the Ventura Citizens Organization for Responsible Development is battling at this very moment to keep anything higher than 26 feet from sprouting in much of the city.

And yet another group of citizens, the Stop Wal-Mart Coalition, aided by the grocery union, announced plans to circulate petitions to keep Wal-Mart out of the spot just vacated by K-Mart on Victoria Avenue.

IT SEEMS we have no shortage of citizen activism here. But how unique is Ventura compared to other cities? I asked Deputy Mayor Bill Fulton, an urban planning expert who has studied other cities throughout the state and nation.

"I don't think we are more passionate or active than other communities," Fulton said. "But we do go to the ballot more. Coastal communities tend to do this more than inland communities anyway, but in Ventura we have done it way more than most other cities. It's part of the culture."

Ventura Mayor Christy Weir has often noted the extraordinary passion found in this town. "I do know that many other city councils meet twice a month," she said, "and we meet every week, to give our citizens more of an opportunity to be heard."

Weir also mentioned the numerous neighborhood councils and the abundant citizen input on the city's Ventura Vision, General Plan, and various community plans as another way for citizens to be heard and stay informed.

But there is another group of citizens in the business community who have become more vocal over the years. They point out quite correctly that development fuels our tax base, which pays for city services. Stifle growth at your own peril, they warn.

But it seems many others just want their beach community to remain the sleepy town it has always been.

I heard this summed up best by a woman who stopped by a table I was staffing during our last ArtWalk Downtown. "I just don't want Ventura to turn into another L.A.," she said. "I live here to get away from all that."

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