SAN DIEGO — Cities and states across the country have been facing great debate over minimum wage rates, including the city of San Diego. Monday, San Diego’s Democrat majority City Council acted as many suspected it would in overriding Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s Aug. 8 veto of a minimum wage rate increase.
The vote to overturn the veto occurred during a legislative session recess when the three Republicans on the Council were originally scheduled to be out of town, according to one Councilwoman’s office.
The city ordinance, originally approved in late July, will raise San Diego’s minimum wage rate in stages, inflating it to $11.50 in January 2017 and adding five paid sick days.
Six Democrats and three Republicans sit on the San Diego City Council. Six votes were needed to overturn Mayor Faulconer’s veto. According to City of San Diego’s legislative calendar, the Council is supposed to be in recess from August 4 through September 5 with the exception of one day, August 7th. However, a document dated August 14 and signed by Council President Todd Gloria announced a Special City Council Meeting for August 18, 2014, where the “Matter of Overriding the Mayor’s Veto of O-2015-11 REV,” was listed up for discussion.
The vote to overturn the Mayor’s veto passed by a vote of 6-2 as reported by local CBS 8 News. Republican council members Mark Kersey and Scott Sherman voted against overturning the veto.
The San Diego City Council Docket for Regularly Scheduled Council Meetings listed August 18 as a day the Council was to be in recess, stating, “The City Council meetings of August 4-5, 2014, August 11-12, 2014, August 18-19, 2014, August 25-26, 2014, and September 1-2, 2014, have been adjourned, pursuant to the 2014 Legislative Calendar, adopted by Resolution R-308642 on December 10, 2013.”
Councilmembers Myrtle Cole (D) and Mark Kersey (R) attended the special council session via teleconference from separate remote locations. Councilmember Lori Zapf (R) was unable to attend due to a previously scheduled trip that she left for before the meeting was scheduled and was unable to cut short. She was also unable to access the teleconference from her location.
Councilwoman Lori Zapf’s office released the following comments to Breitbart News in response to the last minute vote: “It is unfortunate that six individuals, motivated by partisan politics, have passed an ordinance that makes our city less business friendly. San Diegans should have been able to vote on the minimum wage increase, especially since the ordinance includes annual automatic increases.”
The statement continued, “I was also disappointed that the vote was arranged to be on a day when all three Republicans were scheduled to be out of town.”
Mayor Faulconer’s office put out a statement on August 8 in regards to his veto of the ordinance, which stated in part, “The family-owned grocery stores, mom-and-pop restaurants and neighborhood boutiques that San Diegans love will be hardest hit.”
The Mayor went on to state, “The City Council’s authority stops at the city limits, but the principles of economics do not. As job creators leave for other cities without anti-business legislation, San Diegans will be deprived of jobs and economic advancement.”
In early August, Breitbart News reported on the minimum wage hikes throughout California, including San Diego. That report linked to a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Richard Berman which pointed to the connection between union contracts and minimum wage rates: “The two most popular formulas were setting baseline union wages as a percentage above the state or federal minimum wage or mandating a flat wage premium above the minimum wage.”
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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