Recent Wins

(June 1, 2010) Milpitas community blocks Walmart expansion

Walmart?s ambitious expansion plans in Milpitas hit a wall of opposition Tuesday night from the community, small businesses, workers and faith leaders who organized as the Milpitas Coalition for a Better Community.

At theAt the end of the Milpitas City Council meeting, the world’s largest retailer went down to a 4-1 defeat when the environmental impact report was denied for an 18,000-square-foot expansion of Walmart’s Ranch Drive store into a Walmart Supercenter, adding grocery and alcohol sales.

Mayor Bob Livengood was joined by Vice-Mayor Pete McHugh and Councilmembers Althea Polanski and Armando Gomez in voting to deny approval because of the adverse impact the development would have for existing businesses and the community outweighed the benefits Walmart claimed. Only Councilmember Debbi Giordano voted for Walmart.

(March 5, 2010) WPUSA launches Healthy Workers medical plan

Attention small businesses and small business employees. The same coalition that created the nation’s first health insurance program for all children – Working Partnerships USA, the Santa Clara Family Health Plan and Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System – has now developed Healthy Workers, an affordable employer-based health plan for you.

Healthy Workers offers comprehensive coverage with low premiums and no deductibles at roughly half the cost of competitive plans. For more information, call Ann Gray at the Santa Clara Family Health Plan at (408) 410-0811 or email at agray@scfhp.com. Healthy Workers was developed with the support of the Nathan Cummings Foundation The California Endowment, California Wellness Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation, Friedman Family Foundation, David and Lucille Packard Foundation, and Blue Shield of California.

Healthy Workers received state legislative approval through a bill authored by Assemblymember Jim Beall. The program was approved unanimously by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.

 (Dec. 18, 2009) WPUSA successful in opposition to politically targeted “ethics reforms”

Working Partnerships USA won an important victory for open, ethical city government.  

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed proposed a package of “ethics reforms” that drew widespread community opposition because they were perceived as an effort to silence political dissent.  As the San Jose Mercury News editorial stated, “The appearance of a politicized ethics review isn’t healthy for San Jose.”  The San Jose City Council voted to remove Mayor Chuck Reed from his Biennial Ethics Reform Panel and then sent six of his nine ethics reform proposals back to that panel and the Elections Commission for further consideration.