Local Mayors Divided Over Pay Proposal

Mayors of Ventura County’s largest cities are wary of a campaign to push for local minimum-wage laws, suggesting that wage advocates will have a tougher time when they take those proposals to city halls.

Much like the debate that preceded adoption last week of a so-called living wage ordinance by the county Board of Supervisors, municipal leaders appear divided on whether they would welcome similar laws in their cities.

The mayors of Oxnard and Ventura said they support the concept of mandating that all contractors who do business with their cities pay employees a minimum wage of about $8 an hour with benefits, or $10 without. But they want a lot more information before making any decisions.

“If people can’t make a living despite working sunrise to sunset, then something is haywire,” Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said. “But you know, the devil is in the details.”

Mayors in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, meanwhile, are sounding a more skeptical note, questioning the need for locally mandated minimum wages.

“What I can’t put a finger on is what a living wage is,” Thousand Oaks Mayor Dan Del Campo said. “Are we trying to define a standard of living? I don’t know if we should be doing those kinds of things.”

With victory at the county level, the Ventura County Living Wage Coalition intends to focus next on Oxnard, said Marcos Vargas, chairman of the nonprofit group. But the coalition’s goal is to eventually take wage proposals before every city council in Ventura County and possibly some school districts.

The grass-roots group plans to take a short breather to reorganize and formulate strategy on how to approach the cities, Vargas said. Volunteers hope to build a base of support in each city by organizing the church, community and environmental groups that have become allies, he said.

One difference at the municipal level will be an attempt to require a higher wage not only for contracted employees but for employees of any business that receives financial assistance from a city, Vargas said.

Many cities, for instance, offer tax breaks and other subsidies to companies as an incentive to move to the area--and those businesses would be required under the living wage proposal to pay employees at least $8 an hour.

That wider net means the wage ordinance would have a broader impact in the cities than in county government, which puts less effort into drawing business to unincorporated areas. The county ordinance is expected to change the pay of about 500 workers, while the number affected by the city proposals could go much higher.

Business Groups Expected to Fight

Business groups across the county asked supervisors to hold off on approving the wage ordinance, or at least to take into account that companies are facing spiraling energy costs this year. They are expected to continue to battle any city proposals.

Raising the bar at the lower income levels has a trickle-up effect, said Zoe Taylor, president and executive officer of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce. Everybody else at affected businesses will want a raise, too, Taylor said.

“We’re not going to stand back and let this happen,” she said. “We will be vigorously opposing these laws at every stop.”

Oxnard’s wage proposal is being studied by city staff to determine how much it will cost the city, not only to bring its own employees up to the new minimum but to pay the added expenses in city contracts. Living Wage Coalition organizers hope to have a vote by the Oxnard City Council before the end of the year, Vargas said. Then they will move to Ventura.

That city’s mayor, Sandy Smith, said he supports the idea of paying workers a wage that covers the bills--but wants to hear more. He is more concerned about making sure employees have benefits, said Smith, a former restaurant owner. Even with higher wages, he noted, entry-level workers will be unable to buy housing in high-cost Ventura County.

“I can’t afford to buy a home in Ventura and I’m a teacher, a mayor and an executive chef,” he said.

Vargas acknowledges it will be tougher selling the minimum-wage ordinance to the more politically conservative cities in eastern Ventura County. But he is confident that many community organizations, especially church groups, will back the campaign.

“It will be our challenge to galvanize those sectors and bring them together,” he said.

Simi Valley Mayor Bill Davis said he has already spoken to his city manager about the issue and plans to bring it before the council for discussion within a month. He is open to raising wages for some lower-paid municipal job classifications, if necessary, Davis said, but is unsure if the city needs to approve blanket increases.

Stepping In on State Jurisdiction

Davis also questioned the need for local government to tinker with hourly minimum wages, which traditionally are set by the state and federal governments. California’s current minimum wage is $6.25 an hour, but that is set to go up to $6.75 in January.

“If this is so important, why is the state not doing the very thing that this coalition is asking counties and cities to do?” he asked.

Although some school districts may also be approached by the Living Wage Coalition, Ventura County’s schools chief predicted any change would be minimal. Supt. of Schools Charles Weis said most school districts already pay employees more than $8 an hour.