Westminster – The battle between a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter here and its numerous opponents is about to have its final showdown.
On Nov. 1, voters will decide whether the store gets built.
The Westminster City Council voted unanimously Monday to send the decision over the proposed store at West 72nd Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard to November’s general- election ballot. That decision angered Wal-Mart opponents who had been circulating petitions for a special election on the matter. They said the council vote takes the power over the election out of their hands.
This will be the third time in Colorado that a proposed Wal-Mart has gone before voters.
In both previous elections – Fort Collins in 1999 and Greeley in 2002 – Wal-Mart won.
In fact, Wal-Mart has explicitly or implicitly been on the ballot at least 13 times in cities across the country in the past 12 years, according to Denver Post research. And in nine of those elections, the oft-reviled megaretailer won.
At a time when Wal-Mart opposition seems pervasive, Marquette University political science professor John McAdams said Wal-Mart’s wins show how strong its support is among its customers.
“Once it goes to the electorate, the dynamic is very, very different than it would be in other venues,” said McAdams, who has followed the Wal-Mart controversy. “Regulatory bodies, like planning boards or city councils, are very responsive to people with strong opinions. But frequently, when you put it before the voters, there are a lot of people who want to shop at Wal-Mart.”
Colorado State University political science professor John Straayer, who watched the Wal-Mart fight in Fort Collins, suggested a different reason for Wal-Mart’s success.
“They’ve got a lot of money,” he said. “It’s a deep-pockets operation.”
According to a Fort Collins Coloradoan report from 1999, Wal-Mart pumped nearly $80,000 into that campaign, while the store’s opponents mustered only about $3,200.
Straayer said the issue also divided the city geographically, with people living near the proposed site opposed to the store and those who lived farther away favoring it.
Wanda Krajicek, the Fort Collins city clerk, said anti-Wal- Mart sentiment drove much of that battle.
“Was it ugly?” she asked rhetorically. “Yes.”
That might be what’s in store in Westminster, where angry residents clashed with resolute council members Monday night.
Opponents said they wanted to finish their petition drive by the deadline early next month and then force the city to hold a special election on the Wal- Mart.
Council members said they decided to put Wal-Mart on the November general-election ballot to save the city the cost of a special election.
Opponents vowed to continue collecting signatures, even though city officials said that wouldn’t change the end result.
“I don’t know how else to put this,” said Councilman Chris Dittman. “You’ve won. … Be a little bit happier about that.”
But the approximately 50 die-hard Wal-Mart opponents who attended Monday’s meeting were unswayed. Many scolded the council for ending the opposition’s petition process before it was finished.
Some opponents fear the topic could get lost in the general- election clutter.
Others spoke of recall campaigns.
“I don’t think the council really understands how personal this is for people who live where that Supercenter is going to go,” said resident Beth Deeds, her voice quaking.
Wal-Mart representatives didn’t speak at the meeting.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
