Liveblogging the Walmart Vote
Categories: NIMBY, Political Animals
The City Council is set to vote this morning on a proposed 380 agreement with developer Michael Ainbinder, who plans to build a Walmart near the Heights.
9:30 a.m.: The mayor said that is was "almost scary" how
fast that happened. Hair Balls is sticking around to see if any council
members want to talk about it after-the-fact.
The vote could technically be delayed another week, but Mayor Parker said yesterday if a council member tries to do that, she'd overrule the move.
So we expect a vote, and let's get started.
10:19 a.m.: Nope, and the meeting is over.
10:11 a.m.: The TV News cameras just rolled in. Wonder if any council members will start talking Walmart now.
10:03 a.m.: Parker said she's appearing on ESPN later this afternoon with the Dallas mayor for a little "smackdown" before Sunday's Texans/Cowboys game. More Walmart please.
9:53 a.m.: Noriega is asking anyone who has additional concerns or questions about the Ainbinder agreement to contact her office. Yikes.
9:43 a.m.: Council members and the mayor are now praising
Metro and its new president, George Greanias. Surely Noriega or Gonzalez
will have something to say about Walmart.
9:38 a.m.: Maybe
all the anti-Walmart people who showed up yesterday are out protesting
somewhere else, because they're not here. We don't even see Nick Urbano,
president of the anti-Walmart group.
9:35 a.m.: And
Councilmember C.O. Bradford is the first. He said he has concerns about
the process, and he thinks there's a level of comfort among city
departments that think if an item simply gets on the council agenda, it
will pass. Wait... Bradford voted Yes!
9:25 a.m.:
The 380 agreement is approved. All council members are present, but
other than Clutterbuck, no one spoke. Only Councilmembers Jones, Melissa
Noriega and Ed Gonzalez -- the Walmart is going in his district --
voted "No." Mayor Parker voted "Yes."
9:17 a.m. Clutterbuck's amendments pass. The sentence we mentioned in yesterday's coverage is changed.
9:16 a.m.: Vote
is here. Jolanda Jones Wanda Adams calls for a "public roll-call vote."
Councilmember Anne Clutterbuck is trying to amend the 380 agreement to
give the mayor more control, and to put a cap on the reimbursement at $6
million.
9:11 a.m.: Getting close. The anti-Walmart crowd did not turn out like it did yesterday.
8:59 a.m: There's
plenty of business on this agenda before the Ainbinder item, so it
could be a little while -- 15 minutes or so -- before the real action
starts.
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