Wal-Mart ads cause phone jam at county

Thursday, Sept. 30, 1999 | 11:23 a.m.

Clark County is bracing for a union reaction to a newspaper advertisement Wednesday by Wal-Mart asking customers to call commissioners and voice their objection to a proposed ordinance that would limit the floor space at one of its stores.

Doug Bradford, county communication director, said more than 600 people called the county Wednesday, jamming phone lines and making it difficult for callers with other issues to get through.

The county normally receives 70 to 100 calls per day.

A full-page ad in local newspapers and a mailing to local residents encouraged Wal-Mart supporters to call the county offices.

"We anticipate we will have many more today," Bradford said. "We can anticipate the union may be doing something as well."

A spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union could not be reached this morning for comment.

Though the calls created an inconvenience, Bradford said they were important.

"It's part of the process to get people involved in government," he said. "That's a good thing. It gives us the opportunity to see how everyone feels."

He said information is being collected from the callers and it will be passed on to the commissioners to help them make their decision about a proposed ordinance limiting the amount of floor space that can be set aside for groceries in large stores -- such as the Wal-Mart supercenters.

In Wednesday's issue of the Sun and Review-Journal, a full-page ad aimed at customers of Wal-Mart and SAM's Club said, in part, "Every day you tell us you want more products at low prices including groceries, and we believe the customer is always right.

"However, some members of the Clark County Commission may not agree. On Oct. 6th your Clark County Commissionners ... will decide whether we will be allowed to bring you what you're asking for.

"So who is right, you the customer or the Clark County Commissioners."

The ad included the names of the commissioners and the county office phone number.

In June Wal-Mart announced it was going to build three supercenters in this area, two in Clark County and one in northwest Las Vegas.

The stores would be about 200,000 square feet and carry a full line of grocery products in addition to its other merchandise.

Wal-Mart, which uses non-union employees, has been criticized by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. County Commissioner Erin Kenny, who has union backing, has proposed a zoning ordinance prohibiting stores with more than 110,000 square feet of space or more from using more than 2 percent of the space for food products.

The commissioners have sent the proposed ordinance to the state attorney general's office for an opinion before voting on it next week.

Bradford said normal business routines were interrupted Wednesday due to the heavy volume of calls.

"It was nonstop," he said.

He said the last time there was such an overwhelming number of calls was over the adding of a quarter-cent to the sales tax to support water projects. The sales tax increase passed in a ballot measure last November.

To help the county with future heavy volumes of call over the Wal-Mart issue, Bradford encouraged the public to use fax numbers, e-mail or mail to communicate with the commissioners.

The fax numbers are 455-3271, 455-5702 and 455-6041.

The e-mail address is ord@co.clark.nv.us

The mailing address is Board of County Commissioners, P.O. Box 55-1601, Las Vegas, NV 89155-1601.

Calls to the main number, 455-3500, will be routed to the Election Board, where the information will be taken.