I find the letters to the editor about Walmart very interesting. Mr Whiteside’s letter (December 3 Milpitas Post) lacks a factual basis in reality. The Walmart expansion will indeed negatively impact Savemart and will jeopardize nearly 65 grocery workers at Savemart and possibly other local stores.

The City of Milpitas hired CBRE, a consultant for Walmart, to do significant parts of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). While this relationship between the City and Walmart creates a financial incentive for CBRE to favor the proposed Walmart expansion, the recently released draft (EIR) states that SaveMart on Calaveras Blvd would likely close as a result of the Walmart expansion.

The Milpitas General Plan states that the city must attempt to retain businesses and expand employment in its land use decisions. The Walmart expansion, then, violates the City’s General Plan because it is likely to close not retain businesses.

Mr Whiteside appears to parrot the corporate line and the prepared talking points of a “benevolent” Walmart. I urge him to read the draft EIR prepared by Walmart’s own consultant.

However, I shouldn’t be too harsh on Mr Whiteside. The document is 524 pages making it barely comprehensible to the average citizen, and disrespectful of all those who would engage in this process. The draft EIR appears to violate CEQA standards which call for reports to be no more than 125 pages.

Walmart’s own consultants have buried the harsh reality amid hundreds of pages of legalese that the expansion project is a job killer for many Milpitas residents who have worked at SaveMart for decades and have contributed to our local economy.

I oppose the expansion of the Walmart store and I wish our new Planning Commissioner, Erik Larsen, the best as he represents the interests of Milpitas residents and works to protect our quality of life. No one deserves to lose thier job in this economic down turn – - the worst since the Great Depression.

Jennifer Touchton
Milpitas Coalition for a Better Community

Dear neighbors,

I am against the Walmart expansion for several reasons.

The main one is that it will add 85 low paying, under insured jobs, in which employees are unfairly treated.

The Real Facts about Wal-Mart

While Wal-Mart isn’t the only big box store criticized for its policies, it has become a symbol for much of what is wrong with employers. Wal-Mart reported a net income of over $11 billion last year—surely plenty of money to remedy some questionable workplace practices—yet stories persist about wage law violations, inadequate health care, exploitation of workers, and the retailer’s anti-union stance. Altogether, some 5,000 lawsuits are filed against Wal-Mart each year, or roughly 17 suits per working day.

Wal-Mart is the single largest importer of foreign-produced goods in the United States, and the majority of its private-label clothing is manufactured in at least 48 countries around the world—and almost none in the United States.

While paying their American workers substandard wages, they have forced American workers out of work by refusing to stock American-made products, preferring Communist-made products from China.

We need a Whole Foods, a Tree of Life, a Trader Joes in Milpitas before we need a bigger Wal-Mart!

Ann Zeise
GoMilpitas!

Go Milpitas!