Apr 22, 2009 12:18 pm US/Central
City Council Takes Up Wal-Mart Again
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
Whether the city should allow Wal-Mart to expand its presence here - a political donnybrook that gave birth to the big-box minimum wage ordinance that was snuffed out by Mayor Daley's only veto - is back before the City Council.
As promised, Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) introduced an amended redevelopment agreement at Wednesday's Council meeting that would allow
Wal-Mart to build its second Chicago store - and first "supercenter'' that sells groceries - at a former Chatham industrial site at 83rd and Stewart.
Brookins said his hand was forced by the Daley administration.
Last year, then-Planning and Development Commissioner Arnold Randall rejected a request for administrative approval to build a 150,000 square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter on the site of the old Ryerson Steel plant at 83rd and Stewart. The developer responded by putting the property up for sale.
Brookins' proposal would strip the commissioner of the power to veto stores over 100,000 square feet.
"I'm doing it because I can't get any other movement any way else," he said.
Brookins' decision puts the
City Council back on the hot seat with labor unions, which opposed allowing Wal-Mart to open in the city. But Brookins sloughed off the suggestion that he's putting his colleagues between a rock and a hard place.
"This economy has put us between a rock and a hard place….People really need jobs….The only people who appear to have money in this economy are Wal-Mart and McDonald's. They're the only stores that are expanding," the alderman said.
He added, "Midway [Airport] didn't get sold. The city's facing a significant deficit. We need all the revenue we can find so we can avoid laying off workers."
In 2004, a bitterly divided Council handed Wal-Mart a split decision: zoning approval to build its first Chicago store in the West Side's Austin community and a one-vote defeat in Chatham.
Brookins' move did not sit well with some of his colleagues.
"The timing is pretty bad. We're trying to keep some peace with the unions. We've got an October deadline with the [International] Olympic Committee. I don't think we want to show any problems here with the city and our workforce," said Ald. Pat O'Connor (40th).
"Frankly, we have enough problems in the city right now. We've got a ton of potholes out there. We've got a ton of sewer cave-ins. We've got a whole bunch of infrastructure needs. These types of issues coming up now might be just divisive."
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Jewish Celebrities
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
