Sonoma County supervisors to take up wage-hike proposal

Sonoma County Democratic and labor activists are hoping to seize on rising momentum at the state and federal level to raise wages for low-income workers and convince the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to support boosting hourly pay to $15 per hour for an estimated 5,500 county-affiliated employees, including county contractors and in-home caregivers.

A competing proposal from county staff seeks a much narrower approach: Raising pay for 160 employees of for-profit businesses that contract with the county to $13 per hour.

It’s unclear, however, whether either proposal has a chance of gaining a majority vote on the board, which is set to take up both issues at a public hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Supervisors last year balked at the wider proposal to spend roughly $12 million per year to fund wage increases for thousands of workers who do business with the county, including in-home caregivers. They cited concerns over using taxpayer dollars to address flat wages for a large swath of the working class, while highlighting competing budget priorities. Some of those priorities, including offering free universal preschool and increasing affordable housing construction, equally address poverty, some supervisors contend.

“Disparity is complicated and the causes are complex,” said Supervisor Shirlee Zane, who has argued for the expansion of a host of health and human services initiatives aimed at addressing economic inequality. “A living wage ordinance is one pillar we can strengthen, but there are several others we are also working on.”

Supervisors also expressed skepticism over the more narrow approach, expected to cost significantly less money. An analysis by the Oakland-based Blue Sky Consulting Group found that raising wages for 160 workers to $13 per hour would cost the county $100,000 per year.

That proposal would cover employees employed by for-profit companies that contract with the county, leaving out in-home caregivers and nonprofit employees. The county and its consultant would not identify those companies Monday.

“Why are we talking about only a fraction of low-wage earners in the county? If we’re truly worried about elevating people out of poverty, why not raise wages for everyone - fast food workers and everyone else?” said Supervisor David Rabbitt, who argued that living-wage proponents should instead focus their energies on a ballot initiative aimed at raising wages for both public- and private-sector employees.

“We’re seeing a lot of political pressure,” Rabbitt said. “It’s not that I’m opposed to a living wage, I just don’t know how we pay for it. Where’s that money going to come from?”

The county’s general fund would likely be the source of revenue for either proposal. Advocates pushing for the wider wage increase have suggested that the county use new tax revenue to absorb some of the cost, along with other sources.

Supporters say a pay boost for low-wage workers could help address a host of economic pressures - chief among them income stagnation and soaring housing and health care costs - that have pushed thousands into persistent poverty in the county. One in eight Sonoma County residents now lives below the poverty line, according to county figures.

Others argue that a living-wage ordinance could lead to a reduction in jobs, push employers to offer fewer hours and perhaps lead some employers to scale back benefits.

“If the costs for a business goes up from a living wage ordinance, they might need to find a way to lower costs in other areas,” said Matthew Newman, a Blue Sky consultant. “One thing they might try to do is remove certain perks of the job like health or retirement or paid time off.”

The debate comes amid an escalating national movement to address stagnant wages for the middle class, and as cities and counties in the Bay Area and throughout the state adopt minimum-wage increases to keep pace with the rising cost of living associated, in part, with the economic recovery.

“We’re seeing a big movement to raise the minimum wage, and this fight for $15 (per hour) is taking shape throughout the state - in Los Angeles, we’ve seen it in San Francisco, and it has come to other places in the Bay Area,” said Sylvia Allegretto, an economist with the UC Berkeley-based Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Already, three cities in Sonoma County - Sonoma, Sebastopol and Petaluma - have enacted living-wage ordinances.

Living-wage ordinances are similar to minimum wage laws in that they set a baseline amount workers must be paid, but differ because wages are tailored to meet a specific community’s cost of living - taking into account how much local housing and child care costs, for example, as well as other factors such as local taxes. The state’s current minimum wage, $9 an hour, is set to rise to $10 by 2016.

Local governments can set higher pay levels in their jurisdictions. Several cities have recently taken that step, including Los Angeles, where City Council members last week voted in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020. Voters in San Francisco and Oakland voted last November also to raise wages to $15 per hour by 2018.

Marty Bennett, co-chair of North Bay Jobs With Justice, a coalition of labor, community, environmental and faith organizations, which unveiled Sonoma County’s larger $15 living wage proposal last November, is seeking to build on the surge of wage increases enacted recently across the state and region.

“The fight for higher wages has spread like wildfire, even since November, and we’re heavily lobbying supervisors to address low-wage employment,” Bennett said. “We think it’s very important ... we’re hearing repeatedly from Sonoma County residents who say they’re very concerned about low wages and the costs of making ends meet too.”

Bennett called the county’s counter-proposal, which would leave out in-home caregivers and nonprofit workers, significantly flawed. He argued that the more robust living-wage proposal would not only raise wages for thousands of workers, but would strengthen the local workforce, increase economic activity and set an example for the local private sector.

Bennett also argued that raising wages can assist the middle class, and allow low-wage earners to stay in Sonoma County by increasing their ability to pay their rent, afford medical care and to put food on the table.

Labor economists say raising wages can lift people out of other public assistance programs, such as food stamps or Medi-Cal, the state low-income health care program.

Anita Torres, an in-home caregiver who is on Medi-Cal, said she’s barely scraping by and could benefit significantly from a pay boost. An increase to $15 per hour, from her current $11.65, would help her afford new work shoes and much-needed tires for her car, she said.

“When all my bills are paid, I barely have enough for food,” said Torres, who cares for four elderly, disabled clients. “It’s not like I’m splurging and eating junk food, I’m just trying to survive, and find a little extra money to replace my tires on my car and get some new work shoes.”

Tuesday’s hearing is at 2 p.m. at 575 Administration Drive in Santa Rosa.

You can reach Staff Writer Angela Hart at 526-8503 or angela.hart@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ahartreports.