City Could Widen Minimum Wage Law
By JULIE ANN GRIMM | The New Mexican
July 12, 2007
Mayor David Coss, hoping for a cease-fire in one of
The changes, already endorsed by several city councilors and some business
leaders, are aimed at heading off a showdown later this year over a scheduled
increase in the local wage floor.
What Coss characterized as a compromise would put off any increase until
2009. Then, automatic cost-of-living adjustments would kick in, with increases
linked to a regional consumer price index.
If that index was applied this year, officials said, the local minimum wage
would rise only 30 cents on Jan. 1 instead of $1.
Another major change would extend the wage rules to all employers under city
jurisdiction, regardless of size. The current ordinance applies only to
businesses and organizations with 25 or more employees.
This change would eliminate enforcement issues that arose after the law took
effect in June 2004.
Among arguments raised during an unsuccessful court challenge by business
groups and individuals — many of them involved in the service-intensive lodging
and restaurant industries — was the 25-employee threshold was unfair.
The mayor and other backers of the wage law, including representatives of
the Santa Fe Living Wage Network, recently have engaged in behind-the-scenes
negotiations to avoid the acrimony that accompanied the law’s adoption and
subsequent council votes on phased-in wage increases.
At a news conference Thursday in front of City Hall, Coss was flanked by men
in business suits who were part of the resistance to the original law as well
as by social-justice advocates who fought to get the measure in place.
Three of the eight city councilors — Rebecca Wurzburger,
Chris Calvert and Miguel Chavez — also attended. Other councilors listed as
co-sponsors are Councilors Matthew Ortiz, Carmichael Dominguez and Ron
Trujillo.
The mayor said the council debate about bumping the wage to $10.50 was set
to begin next month, when the city is expected to receive the latest in a
series of reports from
Lee Reynis, head of UNM’s
Bureau of Business and Economic Research, said Thursday that Santa Fe’s economy
“continues to grow and show strength in a variety of areas, which is not to
deny that for some businesses, things have been very difficult. And some
businesses have decided that
Restaurateur Al Lucero, owner of Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen, was among the
business people lending support to the latest proposal at Thursday’s news
conference, While he has never been a supporter of the municipal wage rules, he
said, that should not be confused with his support for paying employees fairly.
“Don’t blame the merchants for trying to stay in business,” Lucero said. “They’ve
never been against the living wage. They’ve been against the legislation of
it.”
Members of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, the local lodger’s association
and Lucero, who serves on the board of the Santa Fe Restaurant Association, all
said they supported the ideas outlined Thursday.
Carol Oppenheimer, an attorney who co-chairs the Santa Fe Living Wage
Network, said the compromise happened because Coss rallied interested parties
and found a solution.
In her conversations with community members about the ordinance, she said,
two themes emerged. “Some people were talking about, that going to $10.50
seemed very high and difficult,” she said, “but we were identifying a number of
businesspeople and workers and religious organizations saying some businesses
are able to evade the law by getting two separate licenses and keeping their
numbers under 25 or more.”
Vikki Pozzebon, executive director of the Santa Fe
Alliance, an independent business organization, said the 600 members she
represents backed the plan.
“It really levels the playing field. Our local businesses will no longer
have to compete with each other for work force,” said Pozzebon,
noting that many smaller businesses have already been paying the minimum wage
to keep good employees.
Although a majority of city councilors are listed as co-sponsors on a draft
of the bill, Ortiz said it’s not a done deal. While he supports removing the
provision for increasing the minimum wage in 2008, Ortiz said he is not on
board with the plan to expand the law to cover even the smallest employers. “I
want to have a fuller discussion about that as the amendment moves itself
through,” he said.
Public hearings should begin this summer. The proposal has been referred to
the city Finance Committee and the Business and Quality of Life Committee, and
could reach the full City Council in September.
Staff reporter Bob Quick contributed to this report.
Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.