Businesses in Santa Monica have the luxury of being located in an area with an affluent consumer base. They can increase prices to pay for higher rents because residents can afford more expensive goods.
The downside to this is the increased cost of living for the the non-affluent worker who cannot afford to buy the products he helps make, or live in his city of employment. Measure JJ helps correct this for about 2,000 restaurant and hotel employees by raising their minimum wage to $10.50.
It may seem increasing the minimum wage almost $4 above the state minimum might hurt some businesses and encourage the encroachment of corporate businesses that can pay, but the issue is one of fairness.
Measure JJ would only impact beachfront hotels and restaurants – many of which have been major beneficiaries of tax-payer funded improvements which have helped those businesses flourish.There’s no reason workers should be denied their fair share because of competition if businesses can make more money in an affluent community.
If workers are laid off due to higher costs it won’t be the measure’s fault, but a choice businesses make to protect their own profit margins – the repercussions of which may be lower productivity for the business itself.