Which Way, L.A.?

Inglewood, California Cities battle Wal-Mart Super-Centers

The nation-s biggest company has taken a page out of Arnold Schwarzenegger-s book. As cities around California consider laws designed to prevent super-centers from setting up shop, Wal-Mart has discovered the initiative process. When its city council set a restrictive limit on the square footage of retail enterprises to prevent the low-wage and low-benefit big-box retailer from coming to Inglewood, the nation-s largest company refused to take no for an answer. In less than a month, it gathered the 9,000 signatures needed to force a vote of the people. Last night, the City Council said it had no choice but to put the measure on next April's ballot. Today, the Coalition for a Better Inglewood filed a challenge in court. Is public planning being circumvented by the initiative process? Who wins? Who loses? We hear from proponents and opponents of the project, as well as an expert on the politics of urban growth. Making News: Governor Schwarzenegger Declares a Fiscal Crisis Governor Schwarzenegger has found a way to give cities and counties the money they lost when he cut the vehicle license fee. State Controller Steve Westly says it-s legal, and says he-ll sign the checks that will pay for police, fire protection and other local services. Where will the money come from? We ask Lynda Gledhill, who reports from Sacramento for the San Francisco Chronicle, and former state Senate staffer Fred Silva, who's now an analyst at the Public Policy Institute of California.