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Pasadena Higher Minimum Wage Ordinance Moves Much Closer to Reality

Published on Thursday, January 28, 2016 | 5:16 am
 
Councilmember Victor Gordo, chair of the Economic Development and Technology Committee. addressed minimum wage ordinance hearing on January 27, 2016 (left); a member of the public urges the Committee to recommend the proposed ordinance's passage (right).

In what some see as a precursor to ultimate victory for supporters of a $15 per hour minimum wage ordinance for Pasadena, the Economic Development and Technology Committee of the Pasadena City Council last night unanimously approved a staff recommendation to move the issue to a vote by the full Council.

The item could come before the Council as early as next Monday evening.

The motion to approve the recommendation was made by Councilmember Steve Madison, seconded by Councilmember Andy Wilson, and approved with affirmative votes also by Committee Chair Victor Gordo and Councilmember Tyron Hampton.

Mayor Terry Tornek has repeatedly voiced his support of the ordinance in the past, most recently during last week’s State of the City event. Tornek’s endorsement along with those of the Committe’s members would apparently give the ordinance five supportive members of the City Council going into the consideration process by the full Council.

Should the ordinance pass, the hourly wage in Pasadena would rise to $10.50 on July 1 of this year, and then rise to $12.00 on July 1, 2017, and $13.25 in 2018, eventually climbing to $15.00 in July of 2020. In 2021, the wage would be adjusted according to the consumer price index in the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County area.

More than a hundred residents packed City Council chambers for the discussion, which was overwhelmingly supported by those in attendance. Thirty-seven residents spoke in favor of the move, and three opposed it. According to the staff recommendation, “The predominant number of speakers at each (previous) meeting has been in favor of establishing a local minimum wage.”

Robert Nothoff, project director for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), said, “We’re happy that this recommendation is moving forward and that it lays out a clear path to $15 an hour, with strong enforcement.”

Pasadena Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Paul Little — who seemed resigned to the outcome that the Committee would vote to move the recommendation forward — cited the Dona Rosa restaurant (in which Councilmember Madison is reportedly an investor) as a victim of the current $10 an hour minimum wage, and predicted similar results if this higher minimum wage ordinance should pass.

Little proposed that the new ordinance require a baseline study which would measure various economic metrics in the city, and would require an affirmative vote each year before each incremental raise is approved.

“The staff recommendation has a review after two years, which is better than nothing,” Little said, “but if you look at the world economy, the Europeans are anticipating a recession sometime in the next couple of years, especially if China keeps going the way China is going, so it might not even be contingent of this law’s impact; if the economy tanks, they might want to suspend it.”

Councilmember Madison rejected the idea, saying the recommendation should simply move forward, and that “the community would be suspicious of a pause.”

Economist Dan Flaming, representing the LA Economic Roundtable, agreed with Madison. Flaming asked rhetorically, “How risky is this, really? It’s less risky in Pasadena, which has more lifting power than other cities, to support this. Don’t fight the wage battle every year.”

Rachel Torres of The Hotel Workers Union Local 11 said that the same argument against minimum wage had been made in Los Angeles in 2014, by major hotels, and “most of those major hotels are now adding rooms.”

The recommendation as written by City staff provides a few exemptions to the new proposed ordinance, including businesses with 25 or fewer employees, and for “learners,” teen workers, or workers in a new job or position who are still training.

The impact of the new rate in such areas as reducing poverty, job creation, unemployment and the overall local business climate would be assessed in 2019, according to the staff recommendation.

Councilmember Tyron Hampton, himself a small business owner, said, “We could be doing something great and grand here, but let’s make sure we watch out for the small business owner, and not decrease the number of jobs available.”

But at least one resident decried small business owners who do not pay what they viewed as proper wages: “If your business model is based upon paying workers poverty wages, then leave our city.”

Economist and resident Dr. Peter Drier said that, over the years, “hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by the City of Pasadena to help business. Turn that around. Start thinking about the workers now.”

Dreier added that in Seattle, where a minimum wage ordinance  went into effect in April last year, “there has been no evidence of any restaurants failing.” And, quoting Martin Luther King, he said, “What good is a minimum wage if that minimum wage won’t buy you a hamburger and a cup of coffee?”

While the overwhelming number of speakers at the meeting discussed hardships they faced with their current low wages, a significant number spoke about the issue of “wage theft.” Many alleged they have worked full days and either received a reduced wage or none at all for their labor.

Hampton, in response, said he has also been the victim of wage theft. He recommended that the city establish its own “wage theft office” rather than rely on Los Angeles County to handle complaints.

“Wage theft is real,” he said.

Councilmember Gordo, saying that “wage enforcement is important,” noted that there are only 11 state wage workers assigned to monitor all of Southern California. Pasadena would have to coordinate with the state and L.A. County to create its own mechanism to handle wage theft complaints. The City of Los Angeles has already created its own internal staff to handle wage theft complaints, he said.

Attorney Skip Hickambottom, an advocate for higher wages, said that  “wage theft is a crime, and it should be prosecuted like one.”

As former resident Irma Johnson said to the committee members, near the end of the two-and-a-half hour meeting, “You can afford this. Pasadena charges money just to park on the street overnight. You have a lot of money.”

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