Santa Monica Living Wage May Go to Ballot

Opponents of Santa Monica’s “living wage” ordinance have won the right to have voters decide whether salary increases ordered by the city for beach area workers should take effect.

City officials said Tuesday that a business group called Fighting Against Irresponsible Regulation, or FAIR, turned in 7,145 valid signatures of voters to force the referendum. They needed at least 6,026 signatures.

The matter will now go before the City Council on Sept. 25, when officials will have the option of revoking the wage ordinance, calling a special election or placing the matter on the November 2002 regular election ballot, said City Clerk Maria Stewart.

Supporters of the referendum predict that voters will overwhelmingly reject the ordinance--which sets a $10.50 minimum wage for workers at luxury hotels and other large businesses in Santa Monica’s beachfront and downtown tourism zones.

About 40 businesses grossing $5 million or more a year would be subject to the law, which was approved by a 5-1 council vote in May. The wage increase was supposed to go into effect next summer.

“If restaurants had to comply with it, they’d go out of business. A lot of people are going to lose their jobs if this takes effect,” said Tom Larmore, a Chamber of Commerce leader who opposes the law and supports the referendum.

Supporters of the living wage law insisted that voters will embrace salary increases for low-paid workers.

“We feel an overwhelming proportion of Santa Monica voters support it,” said Vivian Rothstein, a longtime activist who belongs to a living wage support group called Santa Monicans Allied for Responsible Tourism, or SMART.

Rothstein charged that foes of the living wage law have sought to confuse voters. She suggested that some who signed the referendum petition actually thought they were endorsing a citywide minimum wage pay increase.

If the ballot measure goes to voters, it will be the second time the city’s electorate has reviewed the living wage plan in some form. Last year, voters rejected the hotel-backed Proposition KK, which would have forbidden the City Council from acting on such matters.

City Clerk Stewart said 480 voters who signed the referendum petitions contacted the city and asked that their names be removed. She said Los Angeles County election officials--who verified the names on the petitions--complied with those withdrawal requests before there were enough signatures to certify that the petitions were valid.