Walmart

Walmart is the biggest and strongest department store in the world. And we could see it in Burbank soon (“Walmart to engage community,” July 20). It will have its good and bad effects on our community. After the public's swift and blistering reaction online to news that Walmart may move into the Great Indoors store next to the Empire Center, a “No Wal Mart in Burbank” page on Facebook was created. I and lots of people joined this page to share our opinions and suggestions.

In reply to the letter to the editor regarding the traffic issue and Walmart (“ Walmart traffic issue is a red herring ,” Sept. 19), it's probably true that the traffic problem is a non-issue. I really wonder, though, do we need another superstore in the Empire Center? We already have a Target and a Costco, and a Kmart not that far away. Perhaps Whole Foods is not the answer, but anything but a Walmart, please. The type of people the store attracts, and the crime, would be bad for the rest of the businesses in that area.

I think Walmart will be a fantastic addition to the Empire Center, and to Burbank as a whole. The two letters published in the Saturday edition of the Leader (Mailbag, May 19), one expressing worries about the City Council selling out, and one fearful Walmart will change the very fabric of Burbank, are not concerns residents should use to prevent Walmart from becoming part of Burbank. I don't think the City Council has “sold out” residents by allowing Walmart to set up shop in the Empire Center.

I see the Topless Maids van with a phone number on the side of the van hit the front page of the Oct. 10 issue of the Leader. This seems to be OK, but don't let the dreaded Walmart come to town because of the crime it will bring in. Where is our City Council while all of this is going on? Jim McAllister Burbank

I don't understand the logic behind approval for the new IKEA store and the constant delays in approving the Walmart store. Burbank deserves the same choices and convenience that so many others have benefited from across L.A. County with their Walmarts. Burbank should be treated no differently, especially considering that big-box retailers like IKEA and Walmart contribute equally to community development - be it the individual jobs or the collective government revenue that is collected to help pay for our schools, streets, teachers, firefighters and police force.

I see Walmart fitting in very well with this community. It will also bring more people into the city. We used to travel outside of Burbank to shop at Walmart. With the addition of Walmart, it will bring better prices to the area and other stores. Sure, it will force pressure on some of the other stores, but nothing stays the same forever. When Target came to Burbank, I stopped shopping at Kmart. Why was there not the same stink raised? The only ones I see complaining are the unions and high-priced labor.

The letters defending Walmart in the Dec. 14 Leader - “Crime isn't any worse at Walmart” and “Can't wait for Walmart to arrive” - are laughable because they reflect a total ignorance of the destructive effects that the retailer has had on American workers. The authors' main concern appears to be that they have easy access to cheap, Chinese-made goods. There are very good reasons why many cities have fought hard to keep Walmart out. Walmart has destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of small business owners throughout the U.S. by offering non-competitive volume purchasing and discounting that small businesses can't match.

Am I the only person who remembers reading and being shocked by the L.A. Times Pulitzer prize-winning three-part expose of Walmart, published in 2003, titled “The Wal-Mart Effect”? I suggest anyone on the fence in the “let-'em-in or keep 'em out” debate go back and read what was written. Since reading about their business practices in those articles, I have never again set foot in a Walmart store and never will. I will go without that new T-shirt before I'll cause some mother in Honduras to work 18 hours a day to meet her quota while her children take care of themselves.

A recent pepper spraying incident at a Walmart store in Porter Ranch where an angry female shopper injured 20 people, with the shooting of two people in the parking lot of a Walmart store in San Leandro, should be proof enough that Burbank does not need this retailer in our midst. In addition to the excessive traffic it will generate, Walmart attracts many people of criminal or disreputable character who are prone to violence. City Council members, notably Mayor Jess Talamantes, say there is nothing they can do to keep Walmart from opening in Burbank.

Since this has been a big issue for Walmart to open a location in Burbank, why don't they move the location to the old Kmart property on San Fernando Road in Glendale? The lot has a big open space and it has not been used for years. It also has plenty room for parking. I also think it will help the neighborhood because they don't have a Target near them and it will help with employment. Cathy Safavi-Ruelas Burbank

A solution to Burbank's $1.2 budget deficit: Walmart. Glenn Hamanaka Burbank

The year 2013 is already shaping up to be a busy year, with several issues rooted in the past expected to come to fruition. While the year ahead will no doubt unleash its own bounty of surprises, here are some issues we can all count on happening in 2013. Citywide elections Six candidates will be vying for three seats on the Burbank City Council in the February primary. Incumbents Jess Talamantes, David Gordon and Dave Golonski will face three challengers - Juan Guillen, David Nos and Robert Frutos.

I would like a question answered: Why do unions oppose Walmart because of nonunion employees, yet I've never heard an outcry from unions on day labor centers that take potential jobs away from painters, carpenters and plumbers? Is there a connection to the Democrats being the party of unionism? Are there politics in play here? I'd like to know if illegal immigration and amnesty have anything to do with it. Steve Urbanovich Burbank

I don't understand the logic behind approval for the new IKEA store and the constant delays in approving the Walmart store. Burbank deserves the same choices and convenience that so many others have benefited from across L.A. County with their Walmarts. Burbank should be treated no differently, especially considering that big-box retailers like IKEA and Walmart contribute equally to community development - be it the individual jobs or the collective government revenue that is collected to help pay for our schools, streets, teachers, firefighters and police force.

Walmart was dealt a setback this week in its efforts to open a store in Burbank when the judge hearing a lawsuit filed by three local residents to block the store's construction was reassigned just days before a hearing to schedule a trial. Just how much of a delay the reassignment of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones - who will now act as supervising judge of budget planning and administration for the court system - will cause is not certain. But Jones is one of six judges who hear cases involving the California Environmental Quality Act, which is one of the issues at the center of the Walmart case.

As reported, IKEA wants to relocate their Burbank store to San Fernando Road and Providencia Avenue. The new building will be twice the size of the current facility. So you thought Walmart would cause a traffic problem. The proposed site for the new IKEA facility will create traffic problems that cannot be efficiently resolved. The property is paralleled by railroad tracks and the I-5 freeway. This limits access from the west and will force traffic flow through downtown Burbank or down the residential streets on the east side of San Fernando Road.

Speaking as a resident of Burbank and someone who is accustomed to believing that we, the consumers, should have choices I am startled and outraged about the delays in approving the new Walmart in my neighborhood. What I really resent is having our choices dictated by what I consider outside groups with agendas that have nothing to do with me Here you have a big building left empty for whatever reason by Great Indoors, and we consumers were essentially promised a new retailer to take its place.

OK, Burbank people, show us you are not dumb. You are going to get the largest IKEA ever at San Fernando Road and Alameda, streets with two lanes each way and you had to complain about traffic if Walmart came in. Well, I agree about the traffic. However, Walmart would offer more jobs and what is IKEA offering you? Wake up and get real, people. Jim Avery Burbank

Walmart officials on Tuesday said they will take their case for starting construction on a new store in Burbank to a state appellate court after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled he doesn't have jurisdiction to hear the appeal. Walmart has been fighting an injunction preventing work on a new store adjacent to the Empire Center in Burbank. The injunction also forced the city of Burbank to suspend its approval of building permits pending a trial. A Superior Court judge ruled on Thursday, though, that he did not have jurisdiction over the appeal to the injunction.