Wage effort moves ahead

An initiative to raise the minimum wage for workers at large retail stores in Spokane was cleared Monday for signature gathering, the next step in getting the measure before voters.

Spokane City Council members unanimously approved the measure’s ballot title and summary and directed proponents to submit signatures to qualify it for the ballot.

The “living wage ordinance” proposed by the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane would raise the minimum wages for workers at stores of 95,000 square feet or more, including Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer, Target and J.C. Penney.

Wages would have to be at least 135 percent of the state minimum if the store provided health benefits. That currently would be $10.30 an hour. If no health benefits are provided, the minimum wage would have to be 165 percent of the state minimum wage, which currently would be $12.58 an hour.

Proponents said a higher minimum wage would stimulate the economy by putting more money in the hands of low-income residents, who typically spend most of their income locally. They said it would reduce poverty and the social problems associated with it.

“As you raise minimum wage, employment actually goes up, not down,” said economics professor Douglas Orr, of Eastern Washington University, citing studies on minimum wage laws.

Rusty Nelson, of PJALS, said, “It’s about family values and the future of Spokane.”

Opponents, largely from the business community, said the measure could put Spokane at a competitive disadvantage and cause large retailers to locate outside the city. Sales tax revenues to the city could suffer.

Plus, they said, it is unfair to single out large retailers.

Chud Wendle, of Wendle Motors Inc. of Spokane, said his business might consider moving out of the city if it is required to pay a higher minimum wage.

The Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce submitted letters questioning the initiative’s legality, but the city attorney’s office in a review of the proposal said that the city has the power to establish its own minimum wage and that courts have upheld that right.

Under city law, council members Monday had a choice of adopting the measure, placing it on the ballot without a signature drive or requiring proponents to obtain signatures to force it onto the ballot.

Consistent with past council practice, council members Monday voted to send the measure out for signatures.

Council members themselves had mixed feelings about the measure.

Councilman Bob Apple, who represents the city’s poorest district in northeast Spokane, said he would support the measure because his constituents need the help.

“I’d like to sign it,” he said of the petition.

But council members Rob Crow, Al French and Nancy McLaughlin said they had reservations.

French said he suspects proponents ultimately want to extend a higher minimum wage law to all employers in the city.

He also said he believes the measure may not be constitutional because it singles out one type of employer. “We’re going to be spending a lot of time in court depending on which way this goes,” he said.

McLaughlin said she is concerned that the proposal would eliminate entry-level jobs for younger people and that a higher minimum wage might cause some people not to seek education and training to get better jobs.

“I don’t agree with the path they are trying to take,” she said.

Crow said a higher minimum wage should be considered for the entire Spokane region, not just the city.

The measure would need about 2,900 signatures of city voters to place it on the November 2007 city ballot.

Under the City Charter, it would take more signatures to qualify the measure for this year’s state and county ballot.

Action on ethics

In other business, the council approved an ordinance that would require newly hired non-union managers to abide by the city’s six-month-old ethics policy. Current top managers would fall under the policy if they renegotiate their contracts.

The action came after a former public works and utilities director left City Hall this year to work for an engineering firm doing business with the city, even though the ethics policy calls for a “cooling off period” of one year.

The city attorney’s office said that the ethics policy didn’t apply to former Director Roger Flint because he had a personal services contract outlining his obligations to the city, and that enforcement of the ethics policy would constitute a change in conditions of the contract.

However, Flint’s new employer is keeping him away from city business for the one-year period.