Stop Wal-Mart Ontario!
Wal-Mart would have negative impact
Date: August 28, 2007
Author: Annette M. Crowe
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
I am a member of Ontario Mountain Village Association. We are a group of residents who successfully worked with city staff and officials several years ago to deny a big-box store, Home Depot, from being built on Sixth Street and Mountain Avenue. This cooperative effort resulted in the approval of the Calthorpe plan, also know as the Mountain Village Specific Plan, consisting of a pedestrian-friendly development for Fifth and Mountain.
Needless to say, when we found out that the city was considering another big-box store to be built on Fifth and Mountain, we rallied together again to remind our officials of the agreed-upon plan for a neighborhood-friendly project at that location. Our membership grew, and we collected more than 2,500 signatures opposing this project.
We asked for a new environmental impact report (EIR) and after much debate the city agreed. When we received it last month we found it substantiated all of our concerns.
"If the city approves this Wal-Mart Supercenter it will have a significant adverse impact on our neighborhood."
If the city approves this Wal-Mart Supercenter it will have a significant adverse impact on our neighborhood.
We are not troublemakers. Let me describe the OMVA members. We consist of people of all ages; some of us have raised our children here and are retired, others are just starting their families here. Some of us are working, some have health issues, and we spend most days with children and grandchildren going to and from school and to the park. We spend time outdoors and we travel on our local neighborhood streets and major thoroughfares almost daily.
We should not be disrespected. Most of us have been active in Ontario with a true sense of community for many years. We know our mayor, City Council, city manager and staff on a first-name basis because we have worked with them in the past on many issues in order to make Ontario a better place to live, work and raise families. We represent a cross section of diversity in age, occupation, religion and ethnicity. Many of us are educators, counselors, engineers, nurses, business owners (many in Ontario), and parents. We have participated and contributed to community activities for many years, such as: Ontario Night Out, Chamber of Commerce, Christmas on Euclid, the YMCA, American Cancer Society Relay for Life, the Salvation Army and the July Fourth Parade, to name a few.
We should not be ignored. We certainly didn't ignore this community when we were called upon to serve. Our members belong to worthwhile community organizations such as Chaffey Alumni Association, Chaffey Restoration Committee, Seniors on Patrol, local school PTAs, school advisory councils and OPARC, and many are members of Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions and Soroptimists. Many of us have been volunteer coaches and commissioners for Little League, Pony League, Golden Girls, Pop Warner Football and other youth activities. We have worked on Parks and Recreation committees, Master Plan committees, the Library Board, Youth Accountability boards, city, county and state commissions, and several have been recognized for their outstanding contributions. Some of us have also served on local school boards and the Ontario City Council when the thought of receiving a stipend for the privilege of serving was unheard of.
We should not be denied access to our elected representatives. We have no financial or vested interests in this project. I guess that is why I was so stunned when Mayor Leon and Councilman Bowman flatly refused to meet with some of us individually. I never received any response from my request to meet with Council Members Anderson and Mautz. (Alan Wapner can't talk to us at all because he has a conflict of interest due to his involvement with Wal-Mart). I was hoping to share my concerns with them in a friendly, informal and relaxed environment, but because they won't talk to me I am forced to go to a public meeting and nervously state my opinion about this project in front of perhaps hundreds of people with a three-minute time limit.
We should not be avoided. Our interest in Ontario is that we will be negatively impacted by the Supercenter. We only ask for the same accessibility to our elected city officials as others have, such as the city manager, paid lobbyists, big developers, major car dealers, large hotel owners or any other individual with a financial interest in this city. Many of them don't even live here. We do.
Let's hope that they actually listen to what we are saying to them when we show up to give them our three minutes at a public meeting. I can't help but wonder, however, just how much time they have given Wal-Mart and city staff to present their views.
Annette M. Crowe is a resident of Ontario and a member of the Ontario Mountain Village Association.
See also: Letters to the Editor
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