Higher pay yes, initiative no

The Times-Standard

Article Launched: 03/21/2008 01:30:57 AM PDT

In a way, we can appreciate a Eurekan, William Holmes, who is trying to get an initiative on the ballot requiring employers in the city to pay a $10 minimum wage. It is citizen activism at its most basic, and there is no doubt that California requires far from what could be called a “living wage.”

On the other hand, his “Eureka Fair Compensation Act” is worrying for a couple of reasons. For instance, passing laws via the ballot box is a volatile and dangerous way of governance. That’s what our elected representatives are supposed to do — and if we don’t agree with what they do, we get somebody else in there.

Then there is the law of unintended consequences. It is not hard to imagine that raising the minimum wage in one community and not others in the region could result in the immigration of low-income workers to Eureka…..

 

http://urlet.com/shoulder.sees

 

And join the discusson:

“So which legislators are even considering a raise in the minimum wage? Oh, that’s right, NONE. The ballot initiative process is the legal means for citizens to do what their legislators refuse to do. It’s democratic and obviously needed. “

http://urlet.com/frame.computed