Glendale considers impact of possible hike in minimum wage
The impacts of a possible higher minimum wage in Glendale are being studied by city staffers as the City Council prepares to eventually discuss the issue.
On Monday, neighboring Pasadena’s council voted unanimously to gradually hike its minimum wage rate to $13.25 an hour in 2018.
The Los Angeles City Council last year elected to boost its own to $15 by 2020, as did Los Angeles County.
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Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian said on Tuesday that city officials are already looking into the outcomes of implementing a local pay hike and will rely on data that’s particular to the community, not conjecture or anecdotal stories.
The two likely affected groups: business owners and low-income earners, he said.
“The goals are simple,” Najarian said in a phone interview. “We want to make sure that our businesses are still viable, that none of them are forced out of business by the minimum wage and none of them have to cut back on their workforce as a result.”
Part of the information the mayor said he also wants to see is how many minimum-wage jobs are currently filled in Glendale.
“We want to make sure that the minimum wage, if raised, is going to truly have a positive effect on those members of our workforce that we’re trying to help,” Najarian said. “We want to make sure it’s getting down to those low-income earners.”
According to the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau from 2009 to 2013, 14.2% of local residents live below the poverty level compared to the state’s 15.9% average.
Glendale operates under the state minimum wage, which increased to $10 on Jan. 1.
Melinda Clarke, executive director of the Montrose Chamber of Commerce, said the organization hasn’t taken a stance on the minimum-wage issue yet.
However, she said the city at this point is trying to stay ahead of the curve.
“I think the one concern they have is they don’t want to be surrounded by cities that are raising the minimum wage and they’re not, like they would lose out somehow,” Clarke said.
But Najarian said that while he thinks Glendale tries to be a team player in the region, keeping up with other cities on this issue is not a driving force.
Clarke said while most of the businesses in her area, the Montrose Shopping Park along Honolulu Avenue, are owner-operated, it’s hard enough staying in business without a rate hike in place.
“It’s difficult up here to stay in Montrose,” she said. “The rents are going up on Honolulu [Avenue], everything is going up.”
City spokesman Tom Lorenz said the council could discuss a higher local minimum wage as early as a few months.
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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com
Twitter: @ArinMikailian
