GUEST COMMENTARY-Critics of the LA City Council have been warning for years about the slow creep of "Sacramento" culture. Seven of the body's 15 members used to serve in the Legislature, and the concern is that they have imported the Capitol's style of backroom dealmaking.
Never was this more evident than during Wednesday's hearing on the minimum wage. The council's Economic Development Committee heard about an hour of testimony from business owners, activists and low-wage workers before recessing to a closed session. They spent the next hour literally in a back room.
When they emerged, the deal was done. Councilman Curren Price, the chair of the committee, made a motion to increase the minimum wage to $15 by 2020. Councilman Paul Krekorian offered an amendment to give a longer phase-in for small businesses. Most of the "debate" on the motion consisted of council president Herb Wesson and other members giving thanks to each other and to their staffs. The motion and the amendment — both scripted in advance — passed unanimously.
But that wasn't all. In a flourish befitting statehouses from Albany to Carson City, Price's motion contained a hidden provision.
"In regards to paid time off," Price said from the dais, "we should develop policies that stay consistent with previous city wage policies, and it should be consistent with the city hotel minimum wage regarding service charges."
No one knew what that meant. Shortly after the meeting adjourned, Price's office issued a press release. It went into great detail about the minimum wage ordinance but contained no mention of paid time off.
What Price appears to have meant is that the ordinance should include a citywide mandate for paid time off for all workers, and that mandate should be based on the city's hotel living wage ordinance.
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 41
Pub: May 19, 2015
{module [1177]}
