The Irvine City Council majority will almost certainly repeal the city’s Living Wage ordinance, first installed in 2007, which required contractors for city business who won contracts in excess of $100,000 to pay workers in Orange County between $10.82/hour (with benefits) or $13/hour without benefits. The media coverage of the act is calling out Irvine’s Republicans for “zigging” while the nation “zags” on rising wages. Frankly, most of the media coverage makes our Republican council members, Christina Shea in particular — look heartless.
We want to call out something that Allan Bartlett, a city finance commissioner and OC Weekly’s favorite Republican activist, said to the Voice of OC. Bartlett said the city’s living wage ordinance “drives up contract costs and could prevent companies from hiring high school kids looking for work during summer break.”
Bartlett is repeating a long debunked conservative talking point that somehow only teenagers make minimum wage. But due to bad Republican economic policies — including those who still believe in “trickle down” economics — this isn’t the case. The Economic Policy Institute says that about 88 percent of those workers on minimum wage are 20 or older; more than a third are married and about 25 percent are parents. Nearly half of all employees making minimum wage are women. In the case of the Irvine custodial contract, it’d be great to know how many of the workers are minorities with families.
Bartlett told the Council that we live in a capitalist society. Its more accurate to say we live in a consumer-based society with our economy more dependent on how much in goods and services people buy instead of how much the 1% makes. When the economy booms, people — especially those nearer the bottom — have more to spend on things the 1% takes for granted. When the economy stinks, people have much less to spend causes wages to freeze (or even be cut) which hurts the consumer-based economy even more along with the added bonus of increased crime. Establishing a Living wage in Irvine back in 2007 provided a baseline for workers so that low wages couldn’t fall further than those capitalists Bartlett loves can’t cut wages even more. In this case, city government played a key role in a policy that helped the working poor pay rent and put food on the table.
There’s a notion that a living wage or a minimum wage is a jobs killer and that it hurts small business. Most small business don’t hire minimum wage workers. Companies will hire the number of workers that they need to get the work done (least they lose business) or else they are closing stores and surrendering sales to the competition. Higher minimum wages in other countries don’t come with high unemployment rates. As many as two thirds of minimum wage employees don’t work for small businesses.
As far as “Free Market” and “Capitalism” goes, when it comes to government contracts that so many private businesses depend upon, there are a number of government requirements — from a federal, state, county and local level — vendors will jump through hoops to win business. If a vendor is going to complain or challenge a government entity on regulations that impact their ability to submit a bid, it makes it that much easier to dismiss that vendor and choose someone who says compliance isn’t a problem. But since the contractor that sparked the whole repeal initiative was for a custodial contract, and we’ll assume most of the janitors here are minorities from OC’s immigrant community, we’ll repeat that the move to repeal this ordinance is more about economic racism than anything else.
So couple the move to repeal the Living Wage ordinance with Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway’s effort to eliminate Irvine’s cheap business license fees are a precursor to the city’s proposed budget. During the worst of the 2009-2011 financial crisis, the city didn’t cut services to the public. But these moves to cut revenues sources, lower standards for city contractors and possible budget cuts to things Irvine citizens support (like the Barclay Theater), one wonders what’s next? Will the Republicans add “In God We Trust” as the city’s official slogan (and with the city’s sizable Muslim community and Buddhist community, how will this go over?
Irvine’s backwards slide from excellence to average is in full bloom.
Bartlett sounds like kind of a moron.
so you’ve met him?
A quick Google search shows that he has a blog called the Powder Blue Report.
It doesn’t take long to realize he has a child-like view of the world. Aka….moron.
Bartlett calls Allan Bartlett “a moron” with “a child-like view.” Typical liberal hate speech. When facts and reality are not on your side, call people hateful and malicious names. It’s been working for you liberals for decades, so why should you change now and become the least bit civil.
Here’s a thought that obviously never occurred to you liberal intellectual giants:
You’re not smarter than everybody else, as you always pretend to be. BUT EVEN IF YOU WERE, that would not make you right. You practice the Fallacy of the Argument from Authority, even when you’re not authorities on anything.
Beth and her usual whiners keep doing the same thing over and over and over, and failing every time. She doesn’t get it. You don’t either. Stop wasting everyone’s time. Give them some time. You had your 12 years+.
Now we’re Hoping for Change! And we’re getting it.
P.S. $121,000,000 for empty iShuttle buses to go back and forth all day from the airport to Metrolink station. Vintage Agran/Krom. Throwing everyone else’s money at your “vision,” which failed long, long ago.
http://LivingWageLie.blogspot.com
Bartlett calls Allan Bartlett “a moron” with “a child-like view.” Typical liberal hate speech. When facts and reality are not on your side, call people hateful and malicious names. It’s been working for you liberals for decades, so why should you change now and become the least bit civil.
Bartlett called himself a “moron?” Where? I missed it. I did indeed call Bartlett a “moron.” Here’s why. I did a quick Google search and discovered Mr. Bartlett has a blog titled the Powder Blue Report. A cursory review of his writing indicates he is a libertarian. After over five decades of following politcal commentary I have concluded that libertarians have a child like view of the world or they are morons. It is obvious that Mr. Bartlett is not a child. That only leaves one other possibility.
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Here’s a thought that obviously never occurred to you liberal intellectual giants: You’re not smarter than everybody else, as you always pretend to be. BUT EVEN IF YOU WERE, that would not make you right. You practice the Fallacy of the Argument from Authority, even when you’re not authorities on anything.
I’ve never claimed to be a liberal intellectual giant. Though I thank you for the compliment.
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Beth and her usual whiners keep doing the same thing over and over and over, and failing every time. She doesn’t get it. You don’t either. Stop wasting everyone’s time. Give them some time. You had your 12 years+.
Now we’re Hoping for Change! And we’re getting it.
I don’t live in Irvine and have no idea what goes on Irvine politics, nor do I care.
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P.S. $121,000,000 for empty iShuttle buses to go back and forth all day from the airport to Metrolink station. Vintage Agran/Krom. Throwing everyone else’s money at your “vision,” which failed long, long ago.
See above response.
Please run for Congress in the 46th District Lynn Schott! Would love to see you try and explain to voters there how you supported lowering their wages and standard of living.