Frye Surprises Many, Backs Mayor's Veto of Ban on Big-Box Stores
San Diego City Councilwoman Donna Frye surprised many people when she voted yesterday to uphold the mayor's veto of a measure to ban big box stores -- such as WalMart -- with large grocery sections. Frye says she called her union supporters to let them know what was coming.
Frye : I called them the day before, and I also called the small business owners because that's a very important constituency to me -- being a small business owner, I understand that -- I was very frank. I said I don't think this is the best way to go about this right now. And they were angry. There were very, very angry.
Frye told “These Days” on KPBS she didn't want to see the ban possibly overturned by voters in a bitter election. Instead, she says she'd prefer that the city require impact statements and other controls over possible big box store locations.