Split Board Approves Study of ‘Living Wage’

A sharply divided Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Tuesday ordering a study on a proposed “living wage” ordinance, which would require the county to contract only with companies paying employees a minimum of $10 an hour.

The board voted 3 to 2 to approve the study, with supporters saying the move would show “a commitment to people.” Supervisors John Flynn, Kathy Long and Susan Lacey made up the majority.

“Really, the term ‘living wage’ is a misnomer,” Flynn said. “It’s very difficult to live on the wage outlined in this ordinance. But it is an important first step and we need to adopt it.”

Supervisors Judy Mikels and Frank Schillo sharply disagreed. Schillo said the board should consider an alternative that would give preference to contractors already offering a living wage but that stops short of making it a requirement.

“I don’t get this,” Schillo said. “I thought we were supposed to be open to ideas. But you are just trying to push something through without looking at other ideas, and that’s not the democratic process.”

The divided sentiments of the board extended to the audience, where representatives from the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn. railed against the proposed wage requirement and supporters held up bright yellow, green and orange signs that read, “I vote and I support a living wage.”

During a break before the vote, living-wage advocates sang “Give Us the Dough” to the tune of “Let It Snow,” and “I’m dreaming of a living wage,” to the tune of “White Christmas.”

Camarillo business owner Ron Cuff urged the board to support the wage requirement, even if it means a rise in overhead costs. Cuff said it’s the responsibility of the board to help guarantee that “the lowest people on the economic ladder get a wage with dignity.”

“I think we should all choose the high road this holiday season,” said Cuff, owner of Cuff Management and Associates. “And the living wage is the high road.”

But Don Facciano, president of the taxpayers group, warned that forcing contractors to pay their employees increased wages will simply mean higher contract costs that will ultimately come out of the county’s general fund.

“Where does this eventually end up?” Facciano asked. “Down to the taxpayer. Wages should be set by the free marketplace, not the government.”

“This is not your money to spend,” added Jere Robings, former president of the taxpayers association. “It is the taxpayers’ money. . . . Who is speaking for the taxpayers? Don Facciano? Myself? It should be you.”

The study will examine what fiscal effect the ordinance would have on the county.

The proposed ordinance would require that any company awarded a contract worth $25,000 or more must pay employees $8 an hour with benefits or $10 an hour without. Subsidies and leases would be exempt, specifically to ease the burden on merchants at the county-owned Channel Islands Harbor, where a string of businesses have folded in recent years.

Chief Administrative Officer Harry Hufford will prepare the report and submit it to board members for consideration within 90 days.

Several municipalities across the state have passed similar ordinances, including Los Angeles, Pasadena, West Hollywood and San Francisco. Proposals are also under consideration in Oxnard and Santa Barbara, said Marco Vargas, chairman of the Ventura County Living Wage Coalition, made up of 40 community, labor and religious groups.

The proposed ordinance is crucial to ensuring that families in Ventura County rise above the poverty level, $16,450 a year for a family of four, Vargas said. Currently, 23% of Ventura County’s 756,000 residents are working in poverty, he said.

After the board’s vote, supporters of the proposed ordinance huddled to applaud the panel’s action.

“We won today,” Vargas said. “We can all feel good about coming together for one purpose.”

After their lengthy discussion on the living-wage proposal, board members put off another potential hot-button issue--the creation of a special district to buy and preserve farmland. Supervisors agreed to take up that issue when they convene Jan. 9.