Thursday, September 18, 2014

• Walmart Open House


It wasn't what I expected. I thought it was going to be more of a "town hall" meeting, with an audience and a power point presentation, but is was as the sign said, an Open House.



No speeches, no public comments, no protests just several stations with knowledgeable people to listen to questions and give answers.




They also had some snack trays... best way to curry favor is by offering food... if they really wanted to get a groundswell of support, they should have offered margaritas too.


I asked about the time table for beginning the project. The question I asked to more than one of them was, "Will the first shovel hit the dirt before Hillary leaves office?"

They looked at me, then rolled their eyes as they got the reference, and one guy told me, "I sure hope it doesn't take that long."


Under the best of circumstances, it will be YEARS before they begin construction. It could be longer if the Wildomar *APEs have their way... as it seems they must protest every project that comes across the city's desk. As predictable, none of the APEs or Cantankerotti showed up... and neither did their dream candidate, Gary Andre.

Oh, on a side note, the retail Subway project, near Jack in the Box and AM/PM off of Bundy Canyon, is now under construction... it is only years behind schedule due to frivolous lawsuits foisted upon the project by the APEs.


The facts of this case are truly sickening, and perhaps I'll be able to get the straight dope from someone and be able to post a blog about it in the future... now back to the Walmart Open House →


After being there two hours I asked the greeter, this greeter looked college aged to me, what the head count was. She told my that 175 had signed the register, but that about 20% chose not to. So it's safe to say that 200 guests came to their open house tonight.

As the meeting was winding down I went and talked to the people at the various stations to ask what the feedback had been. I heard estimates between 80-90% positive depending on which person I asked. The key concerns that people had were traffic on Bundy Canyon, though some mentioned concerns over increased crime too.

Don't worry, you can count on the APEs to act like this is a sporting contest and I'm sure they are already drawing up their Flea Flickers in the dirt.

Now if I were a betting man, would I take a ragtag group of people that lose every time they enter the arena, or the deep pockets of Walmart? 





At the last count, after 154 votes, it's 52% for it and 44% against it. You can only vote once. I'm one of the "I don't care" votes... because I don't care. I shop by mail or I'm already used to driving to Murrieta for all my Walmart needs... but I can tell you that our city sure could use a Walmart, as can its residents. 

This was one of many large displays on easels.



I only seemed to run into people that were generally in favor of the project. I was chatting with George Taylor, long time resident at The Farm, and he is for Walmart coming to town. He sites the revenues to the city and the jobs that will be coming with a Walmart as his reasons for his position.

Also present tonight, were many people from the city. Planning Director Matt Bassi, City Manager Gary Nordquist, Assistant City Manager Dan York, Planning Commissioners Bobby Swann, Gary Brown, and Stan Smith, along with council members Bridgette Moore, Tim Walker and Ben Benoit.

They were there as private citizens, but were also there to hear from the people of Wildomar too. All were completely accessible to anyone wanting to chat about Walmart, or any other topic for that matter.

I hate to harp on this, but we are only 6 weeks away from the City Council elections and neither challenger showed up. You don't have to vote for one of the incumbents, but you'd better not be preparing to vote for one of the two guys that don't have time for things important to our city such as this.

There will be a ton more about Walmart as the calendar pages hit the circular file... so stay tuned.

A couple of definitions... if you were wondering about these terms.
*APEs is the self chosen name of a group of malcontents that sue the city every time they can scrape two nickles together to hire their high priced legal eagle. They spell it differently than I do, theirs is AIP... but an AIP is an APE, clumsy and destructive no matter how it's spelled

Oh, and "Cantankerotti" is a portmanteau of Cantankerous and Glitterati... basically those that haunt Wildomar with their cranky discontented ways, never having a decent thing to say about anything, especially if it's under the purview of the city, and/or the city council.
What'cha gonna do
when they come for you?

9 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. I see how no matter what the topic is you have to mention Gary Andre. Your just proving Wildomar Magazines point that city council is running scared that they are about to get a big wakeup call from the voters.

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    Replies
    1. I keep wondering where you'll draw the line... looks like the sky is the limit when it comes to your anger. Though I think there are many in the APE and Cantankerotti class that are first class jagoffs, I don't want to see anyone suffer physically for what amounts to "political differences". We all age, and some will experience some pretty nasty realities in the process. Our laws allow for them to sue anything that moves, whenever they get bored, and if you have any anger, it should be directed at those —in Sacramento, that allow for such things to occur —without consequences— in the first place.

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  4. It must be fun to make comments here on this blog when you don't allow them on your own blog!

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  5. So everyone is looking for a comment. Fine, I did not attend the Walmart sales pitch at Ronald Reagan Elementary because it was just that, a sales pitch. This is the same type of meetings they held in Lake Elsinore back in June and all over the Inland Empire last few years. When this project is brought before the planning commission and then the city council then will be the time to speak up after doing my homework which already shows traffic throughout Wildomar, not just Bundy Canyon Road, going from C&D level of service to F. Some of that will be a result of the Walmart and some will be the result of PPP on the part of the city.
    Kenny Mayes (One of the Cantankerotti)

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    1. Kenny,
      We all have our own strategies, but I would've thought it would've been useful to hear their various claims first hand, then look for holes in them and work from there; see what kind of responses they come up with, and exploit any weaknesses present. But you do make a legit point, the real activity will be when it gets in front of the planning commission and then in front of the city council. Too bad the chambers are so small, there will be no room for anyone if people actually show up... I'll be getting to those meetings just after lunch to insure a seat.

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  7. Class act? Because he painted his house a God awful pink just to be a jerk? Because he can use a computer? Because he hasn't filed a lawsuit yet? But he brings it up all the time and he can't speak without criticizing something. His free form poetry put him over in the Miss Miller category. Someone get that man a hair brush!

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