A proposed $20 minimum wage in Half Moon Bay could be implemented in a variety of ways, city staff presented amidst concerns that the increase could potentially remove low-income residents from receiving public benefits.
Many minimum-wage workers in Half Moon Bay supplement their income with some form of public assistance, from housing vouchers to Medi-Cal, City Manager Matthew Chidester said. But calculating the exact rate of pay that could affect benefits for families with more than one dependent has proved difficult.
“We don’t know what the impacts of a higher minimum wage might be on public benefits … increased minimum wage does not necessarily mean people are going to lose public benefits,” Chidester said. “We’ve identified an issue we don’t have a lot of information about yet, and want to explore further.”
The city could choose a variety of strategies for the proposed minimum wage increase, including increasing the wage in stages, differentiating small and large business minimum wages and equalizing over time, following the consumer price index with a percentage cap or enacting the increase immediately.
Minimum wage in Half Moon Bay is currently $17.01 an hour as of Jan. 1 and $16 an hour statewide. The average minimum wage in San Mateo County is $17.51 an hour, Chidester said.
Jess Hudson, a policy manager for United Way Bay Area — a nonprofit addressing the root causes of poverty — said at public comment that under a $19 minimum wage, a family of four would still meet Medi-Cal eligibility with a monthly gross income of $3,040 and an eligibility cap of $3,450.
Half Moon Bay resident Rocio Avila expressed concern about her children losing their health insurance if her family was no longer eligible for public benefits.
“We have to pay a lot of things, and if they lose their health insurance, it’s another burden on us just to think we couldn’t pay for their health insurance,” she said through a translator. “So it’s good, but it’s not so good, to increase the minimum wage. I think you guys need to work with the county to look more into it, to be conscientious about the increase in salary.”
Betsy Del Fierro, a Half Moon Bay resident and owner of It’s Italia restaurant in Half Moon Bay said the increase could have a negative impact on restaurant businesses, especially when service industry staff are already making money from tips that aren’t calculated into wages.
“I’m here to beg for more discussion. We need to talk about who this is going to affect, what are the benefits to the employees who are going to be given a higher wage,” Del Fierro said. “We need to continue talking before we do this, [about] the impacts on restaurants. …
We’re not making the huge margins that some of the big gigantic ones are.”
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Hudson advocated for the City Council not to pursue a two-tiered system that would differentiate minimum wages between large businesses — with 25 employees or more — or small businesses with less than 25 employees.
“Families and individuals must earn a wage that meets the cost of living to survive. This need does not reduce because an employee works for one business type over another,” she said. “Changing course to create a two tiered system of wage minimums based on business type will leave some struggling families behind.”
Councilmember Deborah Penrose said that the city should pursue research into what types of families who depend on public benefits live in Half Moon Bay.
“We need to understand what our population is. Do we have 100 families with six children or do we have 50 families with one child? We don’t know that,” she said. “All we’re trying to do here is to help with as much information as we’ve got. I have no interest in putting a restaurant out of business, I have no interest in keeping a family from getting medical help. That’s not what this is about.”
Councilmember Debbie Ruddock said that an increase in minimum wage could not be expected to solve systemic poverty issues, which require social safety net interventions.
“We can’t expect minimum wage to carry people out of poverty. It’s not gonna happen. What really has to happen — and we should do our part to advocate — people need better child care, they need better health care. If there was a more robust government intervention, a more robust social safety net, the minimum wage wouldn’t be so important.”
But Mayor Joaquin Jimenez pointed to the benefits that a higher paying job can provide, which could include more time to take care of child care or even one’s own health, he said.
“There’s people that have to work two jobs to complement their income. With a minimum wage raise, they can stick to one job and use some of the extra time to spend with the children. That’s the benefit,” he said.
Jimenez pointed to an example from his own life as a young teacher in Half Moon Bay working two jobs to make ends meet. When he went to one better paying job, he was then able to spend time with and raise his son, he said.
“This is a benefit of an increase of minimum wage … as a parent, even as a single person. There is a benefit, there are all kinds of things,” he said. “You have more time for yourself, your mental health is better, you’re sleeping better.”
(6) comments
The root cause of poverty is never mentioned. Poor decision making is the root cause, & and the lack of education. Bearing even one child when an individual or husband and wife are struggling financially, much less two, three, four or more is the root cause. Mitt Romney once said "if an individual graduates from high school, attends college or a trade school, secures a job prior to getting married and having children, there is a 90% chance that individual will never live in poverty. If one element is missing, there is a 70% chance the individual will live in poverty.
Why is the root cause of poverty important to the question of whether raising the minimum wage will hurt the poor? It doesn't seem relevant.
What Jesus didn't say was when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, but only after you determine in what ways it is their fault that they are poor or crippled or lame.
I'm glad you are quoting Jesus. Since poverty is a problem, like any problem, one should solve the problem and perhaps the cycle of poverty will end. There is nothing wrong with offering a helping a hand and a fish or two, but eventually one must learn to fish for themselves. These problems are perpetual within families and consequently solving the root of the problem is a good thing and it is not something that should be swept under the rug and ignored.
So if I understand you correctly, there is no point in helping the poor until we eliminate the root cause of poverty? There is no point in thinking about potential unexpected harms caused by raising the minimum wage in Half Moon Bay because discussing it does not solve poverty? Jesus was big into helping the poor, I haven't seen that he said anything about judging them for being poor. “The poor you will always have with you” (Mk 14:7) he said. He did not indicate, as far as I know, that there is a root cause to solve for.
Westy - you seem to be dedicated to defend all, if not some, social causes. Poverty is generally the inability of those who enter our social community to understand what this expected of them. While temporary help should be made available, our society needs to make it clear that the decisions that these individuals made earlier on, are their own responsibility. A wise man said that if your services or skills, are not appreciate enough, look for someone who will and you will prosper. To just sit there and expect a handout is not helping these folks. A minimum wage increase will just postpone their eventual poverty status. Believe me, if I have been there.
Raising the minimum wage does not solve the problem and will soon be obsolete. When an employer is forced to pay an employee arbitrarily more, then the cost of goods and services go up. The potential results; sales go down due to fewer patrons and higher prices and the poor people who were able to afford the $8 hamburger cannot afford the $15 hamburger, even with an increase in pay.
The answer grasshopper? Graduate from high school, and if you are pas that, then go to college or a trade school after work, work three jobs and get your nose above water, it's what I idid. Like I said and Dirk said, temporary help is fine, but people need to pull themselves up to get out of poverty.
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