Walmart's Signature Gatherers Go Door-to-Door

After the city of Milpitas approved the ballot language for at the end of February, things seemed to get off to a slow start.

A mass e-mail from Walmart on March 7 announced that customers could go into the store and sign for the "Milpitas Consumers for Choice Initiative" all week from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

But most of the time, according to spot checks by Milpitas Patch reporters, the signature gatherers from a company hired by Walmart were nowhere to be found. And if they were, it was just one person.

On Thursday, a woman knocked on the door of Milpitas resident Liz Ohlhausen and asked her to sign the petition. 

"She represented herself as a citizen of Milpitas," said Ohlhausen. "She told me that she didn't know where she stood on the issue yet, but believed that citizens had a right to vote on it." 

The woman had a list with Olhausen's name and address on it. She said she needed to collect 6,000 signatures.

Walmart technically needs 4,000 valid signatures within 180 days (Aug. 29) of when the city approved the paperwork submitted by resident David Jordan. But in order to make the cutoff for the fall election, according to City Clerk Mary Lavelle, the signatures would need to be validated by an earlier date in August, 88 days before the Nov. 8 election.

"We are collecting signatures at the store and throughout the community at this time," said Angela Stoner, Walmart’s senior manager of public affairs. “We expect to collect the signatures very quickly.”

Stoner added that the company would solicit signatures in other parts of the city, although she couldn’t specify exactly where.

The cost of a November precinct election to the city of Milpitas is estimated to be $215,700, according to Lavelle. Once a petition is turned in, workers at the county registrar's office verify that the names are registered voters in Milpitas and bill the city $3-$3.50 for each signature.

It would be cheaper to have a mail-in ballot, Lavelle said, but it is only allowed in certain circumstances. The Walmart issue is "an initiative measure to change the law; that would have to be a special election by precinct," she said.

The expansion issue came to a head last year when the Milpitas City Council overturned the planning commission's approval of Walmart’s expansion proposal. Under the plan, Walmart would increase the size of its Milpitas location from just under 132,000 square feet to 150,182 square feet. The building also would get an updated façade and extensive interior renovations.

But the hot-button issue was the retailer’s plan to add 24-hour full-service grocery and liquor sales at the McCarthy Ranch Shopping Center. The council voted 4-1 against the project, with Councilwoman Debbie Giordano dissenting.

In a recent interview, Vice Mayor Pete McHugh said he voted against the plan, because he believes the project is not right for the city. “I still believe that any benefits from Walmart’s proposed expansion would be more than offset by the negative impacts on our existing stores and employees and our community,” he said last month.

McHugh’s concerns are based on studies that have shown that in some communities where Walmart has expanded, existing stores have been forced to move or close, because they can’t compete with the giant retailer. The result can be blighted, empty storefronts and higher unemployment.

Walmart’s Stoner, however, said an expanded store in Milpitas would bring an additional 85 jobs to the community—and that many of them are full-time positions.

“Walmart provides good jobs with competitive pay and benefits. As of January 2011, Walmart’s average, full-time hourly wage for stores in California is $13.05 [per hour],” she said, adding that workers can also receive performance-based bonuses. Most employees, even those who work part-time, can become eligible for health benefits, she said.

As for the signature-gathering campaign, Stoner said it’s important for Milpitas residents to have a direct say in the matter through the ballot box.

“We’ve heard loud and clear from the community that they want the benefits that this expansion will bring,” she said. “We look forward to moving the initiative forward through the process.”

As for Milpitas' Ohlhausen, she didn't sign the petition.

"If the issue is incompetence or corruption, I'd consider signing the form, but it seems like the problem is that Walmart just doesn't like the ruling [by city council]," she said.