Living-Wage Proposal Is Rejected 5-2 in Ventura

The city of Ventura has turned down a living-wage proposal that would have required companies doing business with the city to pay their employees at least $9 an hour.

After impassioned presentations from living-wage advocates, the City Council on Monday night turned down the proposed ordinance on a 5-2 vote. Councilmen Brian Brennan and Carl Morehouse supported the measure.

The idea behind living-wage laws is to reduce poverty by mandating pay for government workers and contractors that is higher than the state minimum wage. Ventura County approved a living-wage law last year.

The Ventura council, however, balked at passing the cost on to the city’s residents. According to one city estimate, the city would spend $400,000 to $800,000 to meet the ordinance’s requirements.

“Why enact an ordinance that artificially inflates the cost of services to our residents?” asked Councilman Jim Friedman.

All of Ventura’s 645 full-time employees make more than the living-wage already, according to city officials. Part-timers do not necessarily make that much, but Friedman doubted that the measure would help them. “They work an average of 350 hours a year,” he said. “An extra dollar or two an hour wouldn’t change their lifestyle.”

The living wage would be $9 an hour with health insurance benefits and $11.25 an hour without them.

Proponents contended the proposal made both moral and economic sense, saying increased wages would reduce the likelihood that workers on the brink of poverty would end up applying for welfare benefits.