City Council Takes Up Living Wage, Again

The City Council could vote as soon as Tuesday whether to allow voters to decide on a living wage ordinance it passed last fall. City Clerk Frank Martinez on Wednesday certified petitions submitted by business organizations and hotel owners to overturn the ordinance. The measure, passed by City Council in November, requires owners of 12 hotels on Century Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport pay its workers a minimum hourly rate of $9.39 to those with benefits and $10.64 without benefits. The move was met with fierce criticism from business advocacy groups and hotel owners, which mounted the petition effort and gathered 109,000 signatures in opposition. The City Council now has 20 days to either completely rescind the ordinance, allow voters to determine its fate by placing it on the ballot, or rewrite it into a new law that will be placed on the ballot. The City Council was scheduled to vote on it today, although it was pushed to next week, an official with the City Clerk’s office said. The next citywide election is May 15, the soonest the living wage ordinance could be put to the voters.