Sign the Petition on Monday and Tuesday Night

We'll have petition gatherers at the condos at Rush and Delta, in the Public Room, from 5PM to 9PM, on Monday and Tuesday night.

Please, bring your neighbors who haven't had a chance to sign the petition. It's critical that every person supporting a referendum get their signature down.

If you have signed the "old" petition from a month ago, but haven't signed the "new" one yet, you need to sign the new petition. The old petition only recorded our opposition to the project, and had no legal weight. The City Council didn't really take this protest seriously. That's why we have a new petition, which is a legal petition to put the Wal-Mart issue to a vote of the people.

Wal-Mart is worried; they are spreading rumors and "spin" about SOC and the petitions. They know there's a lot of opposition. (In other cities, Wal-Mart paid big money to put themselves on the ballot. In Rosemead, they are doing everything they can to keep it off.)

BUT, in order to make the biggest impact, we need as many signatures as possible, to assure that it gets on the ballot. Then, the people can decide. Signing the petition is a way to say "the voters know how to make decisions about the city."

So get your neighbors and friends down to sign it!

THANK YOU to all the people who signed at St. Anthony's.

Let the People Decide

A [referendum] is being circulated in opposition to the City Council decision to approve a Development Agreement with Wal-Mart. If we can collect signatures from 10% of the registered voters in Rosemead, the Wal-Mart issue will be put to the vote of the people in a future election.

Today, there's acrimony between many Rosemead residents and the Rosemead City Council. This [referendum] is an opportunity to put the issue to rest. Let the people decide.

We need help from everyone interested in a democratic reappraisal of the City Council's decision. If you would like to help gather signatures, contact the petition group (in order of current availability): Susan Young, at 573-0465; David Stewart, at 573-4247.

If you want to sign the petition, drop by the meeting on Thursday night, or look at the calendar for special events (there will be few of these).

The Online Petition Will Go

The Online Petiton on this site will close, because its time is up. We'll have instructions on how to get involved in circulating a more serious petition. Please keep an eye on this page.

If you want, you can still sign the online petition. Once it's closed, we'll send out a mass email to every signatory, and update you all on our next steps.

The Beginning

The City Council voted 5-0 in favor of Wal-Mart, despite the opposition by more than 300 vehement persons who opposed the project. Despite the numerous residents who spoke to the issue. Despite the fact that Wal-Mart pushed back on a City request to reduce operating hours to below 24 hours a day. Despite the protestations of other local representative. Despite the fact that, according to the General Plan, a retail center was not the intended land use.

Get Well Soon Mary

Mary Weider, who regularly flies the SOC banner up on Walnut Grove, was exercising and tripped on the sidewalk near Edison. She injured her nose pretty bad, breaking it, and wasn't able to make it to the big meeting. Get well soon Mary!

Agenda

Here are links to photos of the meeting Agenda. Notable facts: it's not one vote, but several. (Does this mean that if it fails on only one proposal, that they could come back and try again?)

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Hot! Hot! Hot!


wmdemo.jpg
Click image to enlarge.

Around 250 people braved the scorching heat Saturday afternoon to rally, converse, and say NO to WAL-MART. The demos started at 10 in the morning, with around 20 people gathering across the street from City Hall, drawing honks of support, then moved to San Gabriel and Garvey, where the support got even louder and bigger. By noon, a healthy crowd had formed at the proposed site, and kept growing. This webmaster didn’t expect even as many people to show up, especially the supporters from all over the city including the far north, but, this turnout really proved that people do care.

“No walmart here!

Press Conference with Local Representatives



Representatives from local government came to address the public at a press conference at Rice Elementary School regarding the proposal against Wal-Mart passed by the Garvey School Board. Board members Henry Lo and John Tran spoke. Hilda Solis, Gloria Romero, and a representative from Judy Chu's office, appeared. Roger Hernandez and Mike Eng also spoke. (Click on the title to see full-siz