Minimum Wage Redux

The first stage of the local minimum-wage hike has not created the disaster opponents predicted.

The petition-mandated ordinance called for an initial raise from New Mexico's $7.50 to $8.40, then in two more stages to $10.10. To soften the impact on businesses, the Las Cruces City Council stretched out the process, so that the minimum wage rises again in January 2017, then to $10.10 January 1, 2019. 

Whether that amendment was wise or unwise, it violated the City Charter, which required the council to pass the ordinance unchanged or let all citizens vote on it.

The Council also directed a July 2016 “interim report,” and received it Monday.

City figures tended to show growth in the GRT (independent of rate hikes) and building-permit values. The figures did not purport to be precise, or to separate out different causes and effects. Critics said that there was more growth in El Paso than here (implying that our higher minimum-wage hindered Las Cruces) and that $8.40 is below the $8.50 the business community proposed in a belated compromise effort during the petition/initiative process. Pic Quik owner Oscar Andrade predicted many small businesses will go under next year because of the minimum-wage hike.

The vast majority of those speaking to the council on Monday praised the hike and urged the Council to “stay the course.” The council heard sometimes moving testimony from low-income workers whose lives the wage hike has improved. One anonymous server, whose letter was read by a retired minister, said that since she's now getting a small weekly check to supplement her tip income, she can take her kids to the swimming pool and even buy each an ice cream cone.

I'm no economist. I thought the protestations in 2014 were exaggerated, and I hope they are now; but we shouldn't lose sight of the value local business owners create. Although they often get well rewarded for owning a business, they create jobs and provide some appealing features of local life. (Where would I be without Milagros, Spirit Winds, Toucan, the Mountainview Market Co+op, Coas, Caliches, Mascitelli's, Al's, The Big Picture, Habañeros, La Nueva Casita, Cafe de Mesilla, a host of Farmers' Market vendors, and other local businesses?) Further, when people are collecting donations on behalf of non-profits or causes, many visit local businesses, and some business-owners give generously.

Unfortunately, some local businesses also funded the vicious and misleading campaign to recall city councilors who tried to follow the city charter on minimum-wage. Those businesses deserved to face negative consequences; we are all, myself included, either too forgiving or too lazy for our own good; but then, it is a small community. We can hope some of the recall advocates learned from the defeat of that effort and the (admittedly narrow) success of progressive candidates in the 2016 election. Minimum-wage was a discussion point, and the candidates who were more enthusiastic about raising it tended to prevail.

I hope businesses will back off from supporting reactionary and divisive local candidates. (Another campaign as vicious as the recall effort would deepen the political chasm. Many of us would no longer be able to find a bridge to local businesses that supported such efforts.)

But I also hope those of us with more progressive views won't write off such local businesses prematurely.

For the moment, congratulations to CAFé and the volunteers who gathered signatures, and to the councilors who followed the City Charter. It's hard not to be moved by the expressions of gratitude we heard Monday. 

 

Together, I hope we can keep all the expressed fears from coming true.

                                                           -30-

[The column above appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News this morning, Sunday, 17 July 2016, and will appear presently on the KRWG-TV website.]

Reflections on the State of the City

I attended Mayor Miyagashima's State of the City address Wednesday for the first time.

The speech, available on the City's website, was thoughtful, forward-looking, and – at least in intent – healing. He dealt straightforwardly with the minimum wage brouhaha, praised both CAFé and certain business owners, and said the City was better off for the experience.

Above all he characterized city government as something we're building together.

We can differ on whether some projects are wise or well-planned; but no one could reasonably suggest the City shouldn't be providing amenities such as the Munson Center, with its incredible impact on the lives of many seniors and their families; youth sports and recreation programs; or parks and pools.

I don't agree with the City Council about everything. Will the Spaceport be a complete bust? Will the Downtown Plaza be worth the cost? How well did the City handle development plans for the old country club, both substantively and procedurally? How many of the complaints about city officials' attitudes were reasonably avoidable? The City's legal department – like the County's – deserves a column of its own. (One interesting question is exactly who is the client of a city or county attorney.)
Miyagashima stressed his hope to make the City as responsive and service-oriented as a five-star hotel. I hope he can. He claimed progress had been made during the past year. Maybe so; but we've a ways to go.

What I do see and much appreciate is a group of reasonably intelligent people working consistently toward the public good. I see Councilors and the Mayor listening to their constituents and persevering in their duty as they see it despite some internal sabotage and now a divisive and dishonest recall effort. Mostly, I see Councilors with open minds, not vested interests.

Miyagashima was more forgiving than I'd have been in his place; but that's why he's Mayor. He didn't even mention the municipal recall effort.

By the way, the recallers have turned in petitions. The circulators made false and fraudulent statements to citizens, though we can't know how many signatures resulted from fraud. The circulators signed under oath statements that don't appear completely true. If you experienced fraud, or have evidence that they were gathering signatures prior to December 10, please contact me.

People who wish to withdraw their names, for any reason, have an absolute right to do so prior to final action on the petitions' validity. The City Clerk says she needs a signed writing that includes your name, address, and telephone number; and she'd like you to include your best guess on the date you signed, to help locate your signature. Stating your reason for withdrawing your signature is optional, though I'd urge you to include it if you were misled.

Despite the recall blemish, and other problems, our City seems in good shape.
What resonated most in Miyagashima's speech was the sentence, “We're all in this together.” Randy Harris said that to me Saturday, and I've suggested the same in columns; but I heard it in a new way Wednesday.

We are all in this together. I agree, and wish more of us recognized that truth.

Recognizing that we're all in this together doesn't mean I don't fight against the vicious recall effort, or don't work to help the County fire the Treasurer for his sexually harassing conduct. It doesn't mean we don't all criticize and encourage our public officials, to help make our community as grand as our mountain view. Being in this together doesn't mean we don't disagree vigorously, just as neighbors, friends, and family-members do.

We are all in this together, and should keep that in mind.
                                         -30-
[This column appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News this morning, Sunday, 22 February, and has appeared or will soon appear in other area newspapers and on KRWG's website.   For a different take on the Mayor's State of the City speech, read Walt Rubel's column in this morning's Sun-News.  We independently chose the same subject for our columns today.]
[With regard to the Recall, let me stress this: the recall effort will  likely fail, but it's still important for anyone who was misled into signing petitions withdraw his or her signatures.  A voter has the absolute right to do so, at least until the City Council takes final action. One needs to write the City Clerk, Esther Martinez-Carrillo, requesting his or her name be expunged.  The signed letter must include your name, address, your request, and the date; it should also include your phone number and, if you recall, roughly when you signed; and giving the reason for your withdrawal is optional.
The address is:
City Clerk Esther Martinez-Carrillo
700 North Main St.
Las Cruces, NM 88001
If you have questions, please feel free to call me at 575-five-two-one-0424 regarding this.]
[I should also mention that the more time I spend talking to folks who were fed lies by $12/hr. petition-circulators  as part of the recall effort, the less patience I have with the signature-gatherers' conduct.]