Older Stories

The stories below are from an older version of the site.

Information and Picket at Big Saver on Garvey, on the 10th of July

This is the fourth time we've done this, and each time, it gets
better. It's an opportunity to inform more people about
the proposed Wal-Mart, and a nice way to enjoy the warm weather
(and maybe get some lunch afterward).

(7/2/2004)

Information and Picket at San Gabriel and Garvey, on the 26th of June

The Beach's info tabling was a success, and we got the message out to
a lot of people. (6/25/2004)

Discuss the EIR Online

I've opened a forum to discuss the EIR online. This
should help people write their comments, and also foster
a dialogue about both the technicalities of the EIR, and
the larger issue of land use and city planning.
Put on your thinking caps. Time's running out.

To get to the discussion, click on the "Message Board"
link above, in the black bar. (6/12/2004)

Recent Reports About Wal-Mart

Good Jobs First,
a policy think-tank, released

Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer
Money to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth
. This is relevant because over a year ago,
the city tried to buy a sign for Wal Mart.

Business Week had a story about a new wage structure
at Wal Mart. Wal Mart has been secretive about it,
and employees will get a surprise in their paychecks this month.
It appears to increase raises for newer hires (who
were getting 10c and 20c raises before) but at the
cost of capping raises for long-term workers.

Read more...

(6/11/2004)

We Need Volunteers

An ad-hoc committee formed to hand out flyers and
get signatures at the local schools. We need to do
this before school gets out. So, we need people to
volunteer and fill shifts, pronto.

Click here and view the schedule grid.

New Message Boards Up

Check out the new Message Board
feature that's been added to the site.
The link is in the bar above.

Neighbor Injured, Meeting Schedule Altered

Estelle Holtz, whose living room has been a center of
organizing against the development project, fell on Saturday
on the way to the picket, breaking her hip. She's having
surgery done on it today (Friday), and we hope she'll be better
real soon.

Due to this unfortunate accident, we cannot meet at her
home this Monday. If anyone can provide a meeting space on

Monday the 31st, drop an email to johnk@riceball.com.

The picket at the site was a success, and a lot of people
were informed about the status of the project. The movement
is building, and people are making it known: we don't want
Wal-Mart.

The following Tuesday, we went to the City Council and picketed
on Valley for a couple hours. Several folks honked in support for us,
and we got a few signatures. Judging from the response, the
young people in Rosemead are concerend about Wal Mart.

The Draft EIR Has Been Released

The Draft EIR is at the following URL:

http://appliedplanning.com/page3.html

It's a large download, and I hope to have some copies
by tomorrow, on CD, for everyone at Potrero. It's available, printed,
at Rosemead City Hall for $80, and on CDROM for $5.

Because of the urgency of the situation, it's critical that
people get to the Monday meeting, but even before then, to
start talking about the EIR, together.

The deadline for comments is July 2, 2004.
Send comments to Brad Johnson at City Hall, and send a
copy to Save Our Community (above) or to johnk@riceball.com

via email.

County Meeting on Thursday May 13th at 6pm

There is a community meeting of County services
at Potrero Heights on Thursday night. We'll be going there
to talk to people about Wal Mart. Please show up!

New Flyer Up; EIR Expected

A new flyer with the map is up.

There's been talk that the EIR is due out soon. It's more
important than ever to be ready to write in comments to the EIR.
You have 30 days to draft comments to it, and start the process
of challenging Wal-Mart. Also, it will be important to inform
everyone you know about the project, and the problems it will
cause.

Link to Wal-Mart Costs
Info; A Group In Favor of Wal-Mart Forms; Press Mentions

by The Internetworker

A new link has been put up to
Congressman
George Miller's report on how much Wal-Mart
costs cities
because they are so darn good at
paying less.

For the complete report, see the (revised)
Links page.

In mid-April, a group formed to support
the development of the Wal-Mart. It's
being spearheaded by someone who is not
a Rosemead resident, but has some connection
to the Chamber of Commerce.
The name of the organization is
Rosemead PRIDE.
They were playing off the sympathies
that people had for the departing Ralph's, and
trying to associate those sentimental feelings with
a Wal-Mart. That's funny, because Ralph's and
Wal-Mart are brutal competitors.

We also made the Pasadena Star News:

Wal-Mart Battle Brewing...
. We also got on KABC and KCBS in the wake
of the Inglewood victory.

As always, take these articles with a grain of salt.
The Pasadena Star News recently published two opinion pieces about Wal-Mart.
They published

a pro-Wal-Mart opinion column by an editor of National Review,
an arch-convservative magazine. The intent of this article
is to turn the Wal-Mart fight into an ideological battle
between "Left" and "Right". This article bears no
resemblence to reality: campaigns around developments involve
people across the political spectrum. It's more like
"David versus Goliath."

They also published
an opinion about Wal-Mart's bullying
. It's more moderate, but is
still very anti-union.

They also published
Anita Kerr's letter
about SOC.

Ralph's to Leave Rosemead

by The Internetworker (4/5/2004)

An article in the Pasadena Star News of March 23 reports
that Ralph's
is looking to leave Rosemead
. It also notes that the Wal-Mart
proposed by the city does not include a grocery store. This is a
half-truth. The proposed plan is in two phases; the first part is
just a box retail store. The second part is an option to build
a grocery store addition. The grocery store is a loss-leader to
attract foot traffic into the retail section, which is what generates
most of the profits. Wal-Mart would execute this option if they
thought that they needed the foot traffic.

City Council Approves Funding for Further Studies

by The Internetworker (3/31/2004)

A little bird told me that the City approved a little over
40k in funds to pay for more studies of the proposed
site. This will probably delay the release of the Draft
EIR.

A link to a sample letter requesting notification about
the project was posted to the Links page.

Also, finally added: links to the Orange County Business Council
report about the impact of Big Box Grocers on Southern California.
This is in the Links page.

Links Added, etc.

by SOC (2/29/2004)

Links were added to the Links page.

Site Under Construction

by SOC (3 a.m. 2/18/2004)

Welcome to our new website.
On here, we'll have information about
the proposed Wal-Mart in Rosemead,
and it's impact on our community.
We believe the siting of the project
is incorrect.