Burbank City Council Says They Can't Stop Walmart, Tears Ensue

[Liberal_in_LA]

About 30 protestors rallied at Tuesday's City Council meeting in Burbank, flashing signage in opposition of the impending addition to their 'hood - a big, fat Walmart. The mega-retailer, notorious for treating its employees like dirt, purchased a 120,000 square foot building, formerly home to Great Indoors, and is in discussions on how much of the space it will hog, if it will stock groceries and if it will be open 24/7 for your saving money and living better needs.

Walmart's future Burbank presence has some residents jumping for joy and others stomping the ground in rage. Opponents fear the store will drive out small businesses. “Hopefully, as one big voice, the city will hear us,” said Kate Nixa, one of the organizers of the demonstration, according to Glendale News Press. “I know they say there's nothing that can be done, but we're trying every angle to see if that's true. We would love to work with the city, not against it.”

City officials are indeed pessimistic that much can be done to sway the retail beast from outstretching its filthy paws on Burbank soil. The Empire Center site is zoned for commercial-retail use, so unless Walmart violates city codes, there is little they can do.

Walmart spokesman Steven Restivo incessantly reminds both Walmart supporters and naysayers that shoppers will ultimately "vote with their wallet."

http://laist.com/2011/09/21/burbank_city_council_cant_stop_walmart.php

[Sal Minella]

1. After the class-action suit brought against WM by the women

employees who were chronically underpaid, made to work off the clock, sexually harassed, overlooked for promotions etc. -- how could ANYONE possibly want a WM built within a hundred miles???

Has nobody from the City of Burbank government noticed (in other cities) the proliferation of empty storefronts that always follows in the wake of yet another WM metastasis???

[Dreamer Tatum]

2. Burbank is ass-ugly anyway. nt

[Beaverhausen]

3. excuse me?

I live AND work in Burbank and some of it is quite lovely. We don't want no stinkin' walmart here, damn it.

[BeHereNow]

5. You tell 'em sister!

Burbank is the ONLY place to live in Los Angeles county!
BHN:hi:

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. What about...

Palos Verde
Hermosa/Manhattan/Redondo Beach
West Hollywood

there are other attractive locales in LA County

[Liberal_in_LA]

13. hold on a minute! Life is quite good in SFV also.

When I lived in North Hollywood, I shopped in burbank. Don't go their as much anymore but parts of Burbank are very nice.

[Dreamer Tatum]

11. Sorry, WalMart or none, Burbank is hot and ugly. nt

[saras]

4. They CAN stop them. They WON'T.

No, it's not a single step they can take. But they do it all the time to businesses they disapprove of, as do cities everywhere. You simply enforce every regulation to the letter, and you always require the most conservative/expensive option regarding building codes, utilities, and variances, and you inspect often and thoroughly, and you assume the worst about the business's motivations, and you insist on the maximum penalty for every violation.

"Walmart spokesman Steven Restivo incessantly reminds both Walmart supporters and naysayers that shoppers will ultimately "vote with their wallet."
This is EXACTLY what Walmart opposers, and progressives, humanists, democrats everywhere object to. People want to vote with their ethics, their moral values, their desires for the kind of society they want. They do NOT want economics to be the primary criterion. That's l ike saying the strongest person will win in a riot, therefore everything else is cool.

[BeHereNow]

6. Burbank WILL vote with our wallets- we wont shop there EVER-

But that is not the problem-
It's the HUGE traffic problem that this monstrosity will create
by attracting shoppers from surrounding cities.
The traffic at the Empire center is already awful.
And I'd like to know where they plan their shoppers to park...
The parking lot at that location isn't big enough to hold "the people of Walmart"

I don't think it will affect local businesses in this area as much
as it has others- people here are not stupid and understand
how important it is to boycott places like Walmart.

The battle hasn't even started- Walmart will lose this one.
BHN

[totodeinhere]

7. So you are saying that people in Burbank are not stupid and won't shop at Walmart.

But at the same time you say that it will cause huge traffic problems by attracting shoppers from surrounding cities. So I take it that while Burbank residents are not stupid, people from surrounding cities are? That's the only conclusion I can draw from your comments.

[Ilsa]

8. It's a shame that people are so desperate for work that they'll work at WalMart. nt

[Modern_Matthew]

12. I'm one of those people. nt

[Firebrand Gary]

10. Another god damned reason to stop the appointment of "Conservative" Justices.

When are we going to wake the hell up and realize what the Republican party realized long ago. It's about the Judiciary stupid!