Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor: La Cañada should enact a minimum wage law
Your readers may not be aware that most of Los Angeles, including economically challenged areas with the lowest median incomes such as South L.A. and East L.A., have a higher minimum wage than La Cañada Flintridge. As of July 1, 2019, a minimum wage employee in most parts of L.A. County will earn a full $2.25 an hour more than a minimum wage employee in La Cañada Flintridge.
How is it that this community, with one of the highest per household incomes in the country, can so comfortably choose to ignore passing a living wage ordinance? This has been debated and voted on in cities across California for over a decade, but the LCF City Council has yet to even discuss the issue, turning a blind eye to basic decency and fairness.
I attended the December 2018 LCF City Council meeting and during the public comment segment respectfully asked the City Council to put a new minimum wage ordinance on the agenda. So far, nothing has come of it.
I was there representing a struggling single mom of two children, who lost a husband and father to cancer. She earns minimum wage working in La Cañada Flintridge and must choose each month between using her wages to pay rent or feed her family. She earns less than $1,600 a month, yet her small one-bedroom apartment rent plus utilities total $1,550. This leaves nothing for food, transportation or even a bar of soap. She supplements her income by going out after her long workday to collect recycling which, on a good week, may just give her another $30.
I ask all people of good heart to please call/email members of the La Cañada Flintridge City Council and let them know you support of a living wage ordinance in LCF. It is a small change that will make a huge difference in the lives of hard-working families who serve our community. It’s the right thing to do.
Christina Hawes
La Crescenta
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My mom friends and I are delighted this weekend, enjoying our well-timed bouquets of gorgeous roses and springtime flowers from our terrific local La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn. fundraiser.
Why didn’t I do this last year?
Such a good cause (our kids are now “grown and flown” so no longer volunteer on our town float each December, but we still enjoy every moment of our self-built LC creation!)
Extra thanks to Mike Leininger, Nancy Wolhaupter and the whole LCFTRA.org crew!
Sara Lessley and Paul Whitefield
La Cañada Flintridge