Wal-Mart proponents speak out

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Tired of opponents hogging the spotlight, those who

favor a Wal-Mart here came out in force at Monday’s City Council meeting.

Until now, a few detractors have dominated the debate about whether the

retailer should open a store on Talbert Avenue by Beach Boulevard, said

Jackie Fantuzo, president of the PTA at Harbour View Elementary School.

“A small group of people have held the City Council almost as hostages,”

she said.

No more, said Pam Walker, a member of the board of trustees for the Ocean

View School District, which plans to lease the closed Crest View school

site to the retailer.

“They’ve had 18 months to be organized before we got started,” she said.

“It’s just now we’re getting everyone on board.”

Rallying the troops is becoming especially important as the March 7

election approaches. Voters will decide on Measure I, which threatens the

retailer’s plans by rezoning the project site from commercial back to

residential.

At Monday’s meeting, eight people spoke out in favor of welcoming

Wal-Mart into the neighborhood. A handful of audience members, some with

placards, cheered them on. It may not sound like much, but that is far

more than the one or two who typically attend.

Some of them lashed out at Wal-Mart haters, claiming they have made

“false” and “misleading” statements.

Chuck Osterlund, a member of the Ocean View school board, rejected the

often-made argument that the district was offered twice as much money

than the $400,000 annual lease Wal-Mart signed.

Sure an offer was made, but not a “bonafide” one, something opponents

conveniently fail to mention, he said.

Suggesting the long-stagnant Huntington Center as an alternative site is

also a smoke screen, he said.

“We haven’t been able to get anything in there, but they can move

Wal-Mart to Huntington Center,” he said sarcastically.

The retailer’s opponents countered with their own attacks, saying

Wal-Mart received a “sweetheart deal” and that nearby businesses will

lose sales if the proposed 150,000-square-foot megastore opens.

With the battle joined, the mood was more wild and woolly than ever, said

resident Barbara Boscovich, who opposes the project.

“This is beginning to become a three-ring circus with Wal-Mart in the

middle,” she said.