Wal Mart Getting Prepared to Shake Down Elk Grove?

Will Wal Mart make Elk Grove and offer we can't refuse?

Have you ever seen The Godfather? Unless you are living under a rock or just arrived from Mars, you are no doubt familiar with the movie and the characters.

During the movies opening wedding scene Michael explains to Kate how The Don and strongman Luca Brasi went to Frank Sinatra, er Johnny Fontaine's bandleader to get the singer out of a contract. With Brasi pointing a gun at the head of the bandleader, Michael calmly explains, The Don told the bandleader that either his signature or his brains would be on the release agreement.

Needless to say the manager obliged and signed the release. The Don made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

Yesterday a regular EGN reader pointed us to a story on how Wal Mart is pointing the gun at the head of municipalities throughout California and making offers they can't refuse.

In a story posted Monday on the California Watch site titled Wal-Mart ramps up ballot threats to speed new stores, the Bentonville, Ark. is now using California's initiative process as sort of gun pointed at the head of local governments. You can't help but wonder what Hiram Johnson is thinking.

Of course given Elk Grove's tumultuous relationship with the retailing behemoth and our ever increasing dependency on sales tax revenue, one can't help but wonder if during this next election cycle will Wal Mart point the gun at the head of Elk Grove. Furthermore, it will be interesting to see how our city council and their election opponents react to any threat from Wal Mart.