The minimum wage and worker ordinance will again come before the city council on Monday, April 15. Up for discussion is another 4% increase in the minimum wage along with a vote on the proposals that were made from the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce ‘Critical State of Business’ letter.
There are three main items that the Chamber has highlighted: 1) keep the highest minimum wage in the region the same with no new increase (enables WeHo to compete while our neighbors raise their minimum wage up to WeHo levels); 2) a review of the policy that gives part-time workers vacation and sick pay (no other municipality in the state has this rule); and 3) consideration of a total compensation package for hospitality workers that includes tips (Seattle has created such a measure).
But none of those solutions helps or applies to home-based businesses, or many small businesses. An artist, a hairstylist, a kid selling lemonade on the sidewalk—most all policy, both federal and state, has always been crafted in a way that drew a boundary line for smaller businesses that did not have the resources of larger businesses. The State of California defines a small business as 100 employees or fewer. The SBA Small Business Administration considers a small business 500 or fewer.
Regulations and rules that apply to a new single business owner and their first employee, regulations and rules that burden the most creative among us will stifle creativity. It can’t cost more for a new idea to come to fruition in West Hollywood than in Beverly Hills.
Regulations that apply to new young business owners just getting started that are different in WeHo than anywhere else will suck the creative juices out of our little city. Some might say that it already has.
At the November 20th City Council meeting in which updates to the worker ordinance were being considered, Vice Mayor Byers stated, “I do hear from this room and from the numbers of letters that we received and comments and conversations over the last few months that this one-size-fits-all approach is not serving our community in the best way possible.”
If the new young creative energy is forced to hatch their ideas and businesses outside of West Hollywood due to burdensome costs and regulations, we all lose. There must be a carve-out for small businesses to thrive in West Hollywood.
Yes. Only communists and morons — but I repeat myself — want to open a business here.
Why don’t we just raise the minimum wage to $50 hour like Barbara Lee suggests? That way we can run even more businesses out of California and we can all pay $100 for a hamburger. How about asking politicians to lower the gas tax so people who travel to work don’t have to pay $0.75 in taxes for every gallon they put in their tank. I have noticed so many businesses in WEHO closing early and cutting their hours. I am sure this is because they can’t afford to pay people during slower times so they are just cutting everyone’s… Read more »
Weho voter: Everyone deserves $20 an hour!!! I don’t understand why everything here is so expensive?!!? I love Gavin newsom!!!! He’s the best governor ever!!!! And I can’t wait to vote for more restrictions, more price hikes, less police, and anything else that will make our lives better!!! God bless California!!!!!!
Ruth has become Ruthless. Hopefully you can help me wake up a few more people…
My word, the stupidity of things posted on this site both amazes me and scares me.
The majority of the city council doesn’t understand we still live in a free enterprise country, and someone looking to rent/lease space will look for the best value they can get, rather than “I’m happy to pay double of the fair free market rent cause I know I’ll be helping fund a $30 an hour minimum wage for uneducated people who love living next to Beverly Hills, a city that builds luxury homeless shelters to reward junkies who made bad life choices” and on and on.
“Minimum wage for uneducated people who love living next to Beverly Hills…” Yeah, that’s not how it works. Most people doing minimum wage work in WH do not live any where near WH
Don’t bother explaining basic logic to the original poster. It’s a waste of time.
Work on your reading comprehension skills. The point is they can’t afford to live here, but they want to live here by getting an unrealistically high salary, despite a lack of education, skills, talent or luck. And I suspect the parade of maids who spoke at the various Council meetings on behalf of thug unions, who claim they want to be able to afford to live here, would simply pocket all the extra money, and still live in Pacoima and commute just the same. Just a guess.
“unrealistically high salary”
I’m not surprised the unemployed slumlord doesn’t know what a salary is. You never fail to embarrass yourself on here.
Love that you take the bait every time. Still waiting for you to post something interesting.
Love that you just admitted to being a troll.
What’s worse, being a troll, or the one who repeatedly takes the bait (while supposedly knowing the other person is a troll)? Please post on topic, and of interest to others besides yourself.
Hey, I was born and raised in Pacoima! Hotel workers are not likely to even consider the absurd rents in West Hollywood; if they could afford them, they would rather have a mortgage on a modest, yet affordable single family home in places like Pacoima.
same thing with the nurses at Cedars.
“reward junkies who made bad life choices”? You are misinformed and uneducated. Inherited mental illness, physical and mental abuse in childhood, growing up in poverty, etc etc are some of the catalysts for homelessness and drug addiction.
I already moved my small firm out of West Hollywood to the valley. I think you will see more of that as leases change over.
You should run for city councik.
LOL sums it up. Sorry but you know we are going to raise it yet again. We cant be outshined for not having the highest min wage.
We actually have the 5th highest minimum wage in the country, according to reports. At least until July 1st, when we move into 4th place.
This reports doesn’t even list us: