LW Hasn't Hurt Other Cities

[ Excerpt from SBN-P article on 12/21/05 By JOSHUA MOLINA from PUEBLO Newsletter of 12/22/2005 ]


The city of Santa Barbara moved a step toward adopting a living wage on
Tuesday when officials presented statistics suggesting that ordinances in
other communities have not had a substantial financial impact on those
municipalities...

"You are considering an ordinance that affects all companies in the city,"
said Steve Cushman, Chamber of Commerce executive director. "The businesses
who I have talked to do not consider it a business-friendly ordinance. I
think it's wrong. The chamber thinks it's wrong. And we will oppose it."

The ordinance will next go to the city's new Finance Committee early next
year. Living wage supporter and Councilwoman Helene Schneider will replace
opponent Councilman Dan Secord on the panel. The ordinance will ultimately
go before the full City Council next year...

As it stands now, the $14-, $12- and $11-an-hour proposal would not apply to
city workers -- only to companies that have service contracts of $15,000 or
more with the city. Private businesses that do not have city contracts would
not be directly affected.

Opponents, however, fear that the living wage ordinance would eventually
spread to the city's hourly employees, many of whom make below the proposed
living wage. Critics believe that once a living wage ordinance is adopted,
the city's powerful union leaders would use the pay scale as a baseline for
unionized employees.

... Even though hourly workers are not included in the
proposed ordinance, city staff studied the effect of the wage on them.
According to numbers released on Tuesday, paying citywide hourly workers a
living wage would have an annual cost of about $755,000. A three-year
contract for hourly workers was approved this year.

"These (numbers) are interesting as an academic exercise, but they are not
necessarily relevant," said Councilman Das Williams, who supports a living
wage.

"Seven months ago, the council made, by a 6-1 vote, the decision that the
temporary hourly workers would not be included in the living wage ordinance,
and six or seven months later we still have the bugaboo of the numbers."
Mr. Williams called Mr. Cushman's statement that businesses citywide would
be affected "fear-mongering."

... The Finance Committee chairman, Dr. Secord, said the City Council should not
impose the wage. Dr. Secord, who plans to run in the 2nd District
supervisorial race, possibly against Mr. Williams, said the living wage
ordinance should go before voters.

"It would be a lot easier for me to go along with this if the public said
'thou shalt,''" Dr. Secord said.