Wal-Mart Ballot 2009

A large coalition of groups working to keep Wal-Mart from coming to Ventura have gathered more than enough signatures (more than 10% of the registered voters) to put an initiative on the ballot in the 2009 election. Residents will vote on a ban of grocery stores over 90,000 square feet that is specifically aimed at keeping a Wal-Mart out of their town. The petition drive went so well that organizers are asking people to stop collecting signatures because they do not want to go over the 15% threshold which would force an expensive special election.

"We were told a special election could be as much as $400,000 and we thought, Whoa, that's not good government,'" said Ed Lacey, a local attorney and spokesman for Livable Ventura, one of half a dozen citizen and union groups backing the measure. "We don't want to put the city and taxpayers in that spot."

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"We don't want Ventura to have less (city) services because we forced a special election," supporter Das Williams said...

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