Posted November 14, 2006
Christina L. Esparza, Whittier Daily News
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ROSEMEAD - Wal-Mart opponents have sued the city of Rosemead, accusing the City Council of violating state open-meeting laws when it granted permits for the store to open early.
James Flournoy, a Rosemead resident and member of the anti-Wal-Mart Save Our Community group, filed the lawsuit this week in Pasadena Superior Court.
He alleges the council voted in September to grant Wal-Mart a certificate of occupancy before the retailer had met all the required conditions for approval.
The item was not listed on the meeting agenda, but the council voted unanimously to discuss it during the meeting. The Ralph M. Brown Act allows legislative bodies to vote on unagendized items if a majority believes an emergency situation exists and the item came to the attention of city staff after the agenda was put together.
"The majority of the City Council passed a resolution without the prior finding that there was even an emergency or an urgency," Flournoy said. "This stinks."
City Attorney Pete Wallin, who said Wednesday he had not seen the complaint, said the emergency action was passed unanimously and therefore the vote was legal.
"It was perfectly legal," Wallin said. "The whole thing is moot and I don't know why he's pursuing it."
Planning Director Brad Johnson has said he was ready to grant all the necessary permits to Wal-Mart just a couple days after the Sept. 13 vote.
The lawsuit is the third filed against the city in connection to the Wal-Mart Supercenter at Walnut Grove Avenue and Rush Street. The first, filed by Save Our Community, claimed the environmental impact report for the store was incomplete.
The second was brought by the Garvey School District Board of Education for the same reason.
Neither succeeded in keeping Wal-Mart from opening.