First in a series.
Hours before the County Board of Supervisors’ vote this morning to approve an incremental $15 hourly wage for businesses in unincorporated areas, Culver City restaurateur Ken Kaufman said flatly Culver City entrepreneurs “will not be affected.”
Nor does he expect any leaking form of social pressure will force wages upward as a result of this new regulation.
“I certainly hope that doesn’t happen,” said the owner of Rush Street and City Tavern. “I have been lobbying all the City Council people to be patient about, to follow the state and not follow L.A. City, L.A. County unincorporated and probably West Hollywood and Santa Monica, whom I think are going to follow suit.”
To further accent his position, Mr. Kaufman said:
“We are trying to tell the Culver City political people ‘Just follow the state,’” which is proceeding at a far more deliberate pace.
“We say they don’t have to be rushing into anything,” Mr. Kaufman said, “mostly because the city of Culver City is very different than L.A. city and other places, even unincorporated parts of L.A. County.
“In our workforce, there is not a tremendous amount of minimum wage workers, except for restaurants. We are not in a situation like L.A. city where a lot of piece work is being done, a lot of factories and smaller-type operations,” Mr. Kaufman said. “That is not Culver City.”
(To be continued)
