A powerful state Senate committee on Tuesday supported Turlock 's effort to recover hefty legal fees from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which sued the city over a "big box" ordinance and lost twice.

Three members of the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill, allowing it to head to the full Senate, possibly as early as next week.

Generally, the losers in civil actions must pay the legal costs for the prevailing side. However, state law prevents public entities, such as the city of Turlock, from collecting such fees when it wins a civil lawsuit. To date, Turlock has spent more than $300,000 on the appealed lawsuit and another one Wal-Mart has filed in federal court.

Turlock Mayor Curt Andre and Vice Mayor John Lazar testified before the committee in support of the bill. They left the Capitol grinning.

"It was very encouraging not to have any opposition in there," Lazar said. No one spoke against the bill during a public comment period.

"This was an afternoon well-spent," Lazar said, referring to how the pair waited several hours for their chance with the committee, which lasted less than 15 minutes.

"We're very happy," Andre said, noting other cities in the state are watching how Turlock handles the situation. " Turlock is leading the way."

Sens. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, and Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, immediately voted "yes" on the bill during the hearing. Andre and Lazar had to wait an hour until Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, returned from a meeting with Gov. Schwarzenegger to cast the decisive vote. The senators did not comment before voting.

Wal-Mart sued Turlock soon after the City Council passed the ordinance with a 5-0 vote in 2004. Council members said then that the 225,000-square-foot supercenter Wal-Mart wanted to build on Countryside Drive would cause substantial traffic congestion and result in environmental harm. Wal-Mart lost in Stanislaus County Superior Court in 2004 and took the case to the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno, which ruled against the corporation earlier this week.

Democratic Sen. Richard Alarcón of Van Nuys sponsored the legislation, Senate Bill 1818. Alarcón said he believes the bill should allow Turlock to receive the legal fees retroactively. If it passes the full Senate, it would need to be approved by the Assembly before it could move to Schwarzenegger's desk.

Alarcón said he backed the bill because he worried the only small city in his district — San Fernando, population 25,000 — could someday find itself in the same position as Turlock.

Turlock 's legal bill "is probably a huge part of their budget," the senator said before the hearing. The city's general fund budget is nearly $26 million.

Turlock won the lawsuit — twice, the senator said. Therefore, "they're right. Why should they have to bear the legal costs? That's not the way to use the legal system."

For Wal-Mart "to take on these little towns — it's just not fair. It's truly David and Goliath. Why should Turlock suffer diminished services because of Wal-Mart?"

Denham wouldn't sponsor bill. Alarcón took up the bill after Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, declined to sponsor it. Denham represents Turlock .

The city sent a legislative request to Denham; the senator had two attorneys review the bill, and "there were numerous concerns with the bill at the time," Denham's press aide, Stacey Hendrickson, said. Chief among them was language that would make the bill retroactive, and "once enacted, the legislation could apply to hundreds of cases," Hendrickson said.

The attorneys also believed the bill would make it easier for cities to sue the "average citizen who wanted to fight a water bill," Hendrickson said.

She added that the bill has undergone some amendments since its inception and that Denham would examine it again before deciding whether to support it on the Senate floor.

© 2006 Modesto Bee

More coverage of this story:

Wal-Mart Inc. Claims the 14th Amendment (Feb, 2004)

Court Upholds Superstore Ban in Turlock, CA (Feb, 2004)

Wal-Mart Loses Challenge to Ban on "Supercenters" (April, 2006)

 

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