In the 1960s my parents opened a small diner near downtown Los Angeles. As a child, I watched my parents sitting at the kitchen table, discussing their plans for what they considered a huge expansion of the business — hiring a dishwasher. But my parents kept putting off the decision, in large part because of a proposed minimum-wage hike. This … Read More
Minimum Wage Triggers Maximum Rage
First in a series. On the occasion of the final candidates forum this morning in the second floor Board Room of the Kirk Douglas Theatre, the ticklish question was as inevitable as a pay raise. Moderator Ken Kaufman of the sponsoring Downtown Business Assn., owner of Rush Street and The Tavern in Downtown, asked the six in-person candidates (Jay Garocochea … Read More
Meghan, McKeown to Talk Minimum Wage
The need for a minimum wage, locally and nationally, will be the subject of this evening’s Culver City Democratic Club meeting in the Rotunda Room of the Vets Auditorium. City Councilperson Meghan Sahli-Wells and Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown, both ardent supporters of the minimum wage philosophy, will interpret their reasons at the 7 o’clock monthly meeting. How different are … Read More
Culver City Needs $15 Minimum Wage Law
[Editor’s Note: Mr. Cherness is a longtime member and former president of the Culver City Democratic Club.] Anyone who has been following the news knows that there is a nationwide movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders introduced a bill in Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per … Read More
No Hometown Sentiment for Minimum Wage
Third in a series. Re: “Meghan Curious to See How $15 Plays Out” After promising to investigate the number of minimum wage workers in Culver City and to determine how many live here, City Councilperson Meghan Sahli-Wells said her motivation is to learn “whether there is a real demand here to raise the minimum wage and have uniformity of pay … Read More
Does City Need Its Own Minimum Wage?
Will the regional hurricane of minimum wage legislation that has been pounding across Los Angeles for months ultimately drench Culver City? “I don’t think Culver City needs to conform to everything neighboring cities decide to do,” says Vice Mayor Andy Weissman. “We are not Los Angeles or Santa Monica. “Merely because L.A. or Santa Monica decides it wants to go … Read More
Minimum Wage Knocks on Culver City’s Door
How soon should business owners, especially restaurateurs, expect the new minimum wage almost-law in Los Angeles to spill into Culver City? the president/CEO of the Chamber of Commerce was asked this morning. “Being a believer in the free enterprise system,” said Steve Rose, “and with Culver City being somewhere under five square miles, the economic impact is going to hit … Read More
Owner Sees Downside of Minimum Wage Law
“Yes, I have thoughts about L.A. ‘s wage hike,” a Culver City business owner said yesterday, hours after the Los Angeles City Council made the $15 minimum wage almost-law, with one step to go. “What a bunch of idiots,” said the gentleman who has operated his company since the 1990s. He said that 14 of the 15 Council members – … Read More
Minimum Wage Requires Minimum Reasoning
For pure folly, few contemporary concepts surpass the minimum wage. The favorite new pull-toy of fist-flashing labor union thugs, the boys with the downsized minds are all in for it. Emotionally. (See last month’s successful minimum wage campaign downtown when union-suiters marched in arm-locking harmony with the pushover Los Angeles City Council.) But not rationally. Ooops. A week later, the … Read More
Why I Voted for the Minimum Wage
[Editor’s Note: Term-limited Mr. Parks, 71 years old, is in his final days on the Los Angeles City Council.] Last Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council adopted forthwith (14-1, for once I wasn’t the one, Mitch Englander was) a motion to allow the City Attorney to draft an ordinance that would eventually raise the minimum wage in L.A. to $15 by … Read More