Walmart Creates $436,000 Dilemma for City Council

Updated: April 17 at 10:40 a.m.

The Walmart expansion has qualified for the ballot with enough signatures, the city clerk confirmed this week. But the price tag for the election could be as high as $436,000.

For now, Gov. Jerry Brown's tax extensions are not officially on the November ballot. City Clerk Mary Lavelle said the city would "consolidate our election with anything that was on the ballot within a 180-day period." That would lower the price of the local election. She estimated a .

Walmart spokesperson Angela Stoner did not comment on the costs, but said the signatures were from voters "who support bringing our proposal back before the Council who can choose to either adopt the measure outright or place it on a future ballot."

Vice Mayor Pete McHugh pointed out the discrimination suits against women at the Supreme Court level and an "abysmal" overall record of employee relations as one reason why he would not be approving the ordinance.

The fact that $436,000 in taxpayer dollars could be used for an election that would only benefit Walmart was simply another "black eye" for the corporation, he wrote in an email.

The Milpitas City Council voted against the expansion proposal last summer, except for Councilwoman Debbie Giordano, but the cost to taxpayers has changed the minds of two council members, who instead of letting the expansion go to a costly vote, would be willing to approve it in council chambers.

"Based on the cost of a special election and that the signatures verified were more than the votes I received in the November election, it appears the residents have spoken clearly they want an expanded Walmart," Councilwoman Althea Polanski wrote in a email.  

"Unless someone comes forward and is willing to pay for the cost of a special election," she wrote, "I do not see how I could justify not supporting the will of the people."

"I'm just going to vote for it," said Councilman Armando Gomez, who said there was enough public support for the expansion. 

"We have a choice as policymakers," he said. 

During his re-election campaign, said Gomez, he knocked on about 7,000 doors. He said the households that supported Walmart were 4 to 1, or even 5 to 1.

While other city councils have made similar decisions in Walmart's favor when faced with costly elections, Gomez said it was all part of the electoral process.

Walmart had a right to gather signatures when it was not satisfied with the action the city council took last summer, and "that's just our process," he said. 

The council is expected to certify the results at its regular meeting on Tuesday, setting a timeline in motion.

A California elections code states that the election must be called 88-103 days from the time the petition is certified, according to Lavelle. That means the standalone election would be set on a Tuesday between July 18-31 of this year.

At the City Council meeting, Lavelle is also expected to present three options as stated in the California election code 9214:

• Adopt the ordinance, without alteration, at the regular meeting at which the certification of the petition is presented.
• Call for a special election upon certification of the petition.
• Call for a report in which they will still have to make a decision within 10 days after it is submitted.

Of the more than 6,000 signatures submitted, employees at the county registrar of voters determined that enough of those signatures were from valid registered voters in Milpitas, according to Lavelle.

"The current council seems willing to consider all available opportunities to bring new jobs and tax revenue to Milpitas," said Stoner. "We very much appreciate their willingness to review the information before them and make the decision they feel is in the best interest of their constituents and the community."