Wal-Mart factions expected at Council meeting.
In a last ditch effort to save Santa Fe from the "Great Satan" of superstores (aka Wal-Mart), a local group has compiled a hodgepodge of economic studies,
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all of which come to the same damning conclusion about the corporate behemoth:
Wal-Mart hurts local businesses in a shockingly short matter of time, unduly strains state health care systems and ultimately makes life pricier for the community.
The Coalition To Limit Big Boxes In Santa Fe, which compiled the various studies, is currently scrambling to get the package to City Council members in time for an Aug. 10 meeting when councilors were scheduled to vote on approval for a Super Wal-Mart as part of a proposed mixed-use development, Entrada Contenta off Cerrillos Road [Cover story, July 13:
].
The proposal won approval from the city's Planning Commission on July 7.
"They're a lot of economic issues at stake here," Coalition Chairman and Historic Route 66 Sandwich Company owner Arthur Padilla says. "Whether it's settling for low-paying salaries, the effect on local businesses or whether Wal-Mart actually does what it says it will when it comes into a small community like Santa Fe."
Padilla and others hope city councilors peruse the packet before the meeting and that its contents give them pause before voting.
Among the most explosive studies is one by Iowa State University economist Kenneth Stone, "Competing With the Discount Mass Merchandisers," which analyzed the impact of Wal-Mart on Iowa towns with populations between 5,000 and 30,000.
According to the packet, 28 different types of Santa Fe business-from nail salons to flower shops to electronic stores to video stores-will be forced to downsize or close if the Super Wal-Mart opens.
The packet also alleges that because the chain offers only piecemeal health benefits, New Mexico's already cash-strapped Medicaid program could be pushed over the edge. In 13 other states, the packet says, Wal-Mart employed the most recipients of government-subsidized health care of any business.
"We always had a visceral notion that this wasn't good for the community, but to actually see the studies, how Wal-Mart truly nicks every community, it's startling," says Santa Fe lawyer Steven Durkovich, who helped compile the studies.
Wal-Mart Spokeswoman Kimberly Randle would not respond to the specific studies cited by the Coalition, but says Wal-Mart typically contributes millions of dollars to local tax bases and that homegrown businesses actually spring up around the superstore because it purchases local products. "I would say that Wal-Mart and a development like Entrada Contenta will benefit the community as opposed to driving people to other places," she says.
Councilor David Coss had not received the anti-Wal-Mart packet at press time but says he's leaning against the project.
"I've been researching it, and I can't find anything in our economic strategy plan which would support this sort of project," Coss says.
Earlier this year, Coss and fellow Councilor Karen Heldmeyer introduced a resolution that called for a study into the long-term impacts of big box stores, but the legislation never passed. At press time, Heldmeyer also says she's yet to receive the packet of stats. Like Coss, Heldmeyer considers the long-term economic impacts of the superstore as one of the salient factors in determining her vote.
Randle says a team of Wal-Mart brass will be at the City Council meeting and that the company has hired an Albuquerque public relations firm, DW Turner Strategic Communications.
As for the anti-Wal-Mart contingent, Padilla says they plan to make both their voices and statistics known at the meeting.
"We just want everyone to be as thoughtful as possible about this," he says. "We want the city to truly understand the ramifications of what bringing another Wal-Mart to Santa Fe would mean."
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