Second in a series
Re “Minimum Wage Not Just a Worthy but a Vital Idea – Meghan”
[img]1307|right|Meghan Sahli-Wells||no_popup[/img]Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells’s dream, when she ascended the rotating office last spring, was to accelerate transformation of Culver City into an ideal community for families.
Championing a minimum wage is one layer of her intended upgrade, and at a meeting with fellow mayors, she spoke out forcefully in favor of a minimum wage, which has become a national rage.
Ms. Sahli-Wells worries about the economy driving both low-wage earners and fixed-income longtime residents out of Culver City.
“Part of the problem,” she said, “is that housing prices have gone way up and wages have been completely stagnant.
“Something has to give.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, host of the meeting of Los Angeles County mayors in Monterey Park, utilized the occasion to stoke his campaign to raise the minimum wage to $13.25, citywide, by 2017.
“He explained to us why he was doing that,” Ms. Sahli-Wells said. “There is a study out of U.C. Berkeley analyzing the economic impact. A lot of unions across the country are going for $15 an hour.
“Garcetti’s plan for a lower wage ($13.25) is based on the Berkeley study,” the mayor said. “He said he wanted it to be a net positive – those were his words. It would raise people up, give them more buying power while having the least negative effect on businesses.
“That is something I am interested in looking at,” Ms. Sahli-Wells said.
