Recommendation to review draft ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by adding Part IV to Title 5; and by adding Section 5.06.020.A.7, all relating to a Long Beach Minimum Wage Ordinance, and provide further direction.  (Citywide)
Thank you. Next up is Kathy Lynn, please. It's Kathy here. Kathi Lynn. Okay. We're moving on to item 18. Madam Clerk, please. Well, wait. I'm sorry. We're moving to automate. So let me before we go there, I actually need a motion. There's been a a request by Councilwoman Pryce, who is not is not able to be here tonight to postpone this to the next item. So if someone would like to make that motion, there is a motion any second to postpone this item to the next meeting, which is there's no meeting next week, so it actually be two weeks. So that's the motion on the floor. Is there any public comment on the motion to postpone? Yes, there there is. Please come forward. And please, this is only so if you're going to speak to this, only speak to the postponement, not to the issue. Thank you. Hello, fellow council members. My name is Joshua Jimenez. I'm a member of On a Bay, Long Beach and the Filipino Migrant Center. I was born and. Raised, is still living in the second district. Of Long Beach. I'm a native, born and bred on this Long Beach soil, and I went to lobby's poly high of 23 years old. So I'm a Jaguar Ibiza. I'm 23 years old and I currently work in retail sales at a shoe store as a cashier and have been part of my company for. Two years and I support. Passing a minimum wage policy. The Lowndes Way meeting a city led $15 local minimum wage, a strong wage enforcement policy. I support this because I work directly with high school youth who are brand new to the job market. The cost of living is rising, so the youth bear the brunt of the lack of economic opportunities for their loved ones. A learner's wage for youth is an inequality. For new youth workers, their hours are already so low for the first couple of months. On top of that, do we really think it's fair to only pay them 85% of the minimum wage? Okay, just just cause I know that the city attorney is looking at me right here as well. We have to speak only to moving this item. The motion is not on the minimum wage. The motion is on whether or not to postpone the discussion for two weeks so you can make an argument for or against postponing the discussion. That's what the that's what the public comments for. Okay. Well, I think it's it's not the postponing. It is just making it it's a bureaucratic process. And I'm seeing what's going on in this city. You know, people like me, I work hard. I take my time off. It's my day off today. And I'm going straight back to work for the next week for the back to school season. Kids are going back to school, are going back to shopping for shoes, backpacks, what have you. But me coming here, taking my sweet time, taking my day off. I'm here because I'm in support of it, but I'm definitely not in support of keep in on pushing back this date of this ordinance. It needs to be talked about. It needs to be addressed because I'm tired of coming to these meetings and definitely all the workers of the city of Long Beach, they need you guys, the city council members. We put you in these seats. You should be able to represent the urgent needs of the working class people of this city as a youth, as a person of color. I feel like we need to be heard, but you guys are not responding back with the proper way. So I think that you guys need to really respond to the needs of the working class lives of this city, because this is the we are the ones that put you in the in these seats. So you guys should be responding and really taking actually the standard with us. You know, I'm coming here. Ever since January, I've been coming here speaking to you guys about this issue. So why need to push it back more, be more bureaucratic about this process? It's only it's only right. It's only fair. We need to be transparent about this issue. I'm talking to my fellow coworkers. I'm talking to, you know, other workers that I work with. And we're just going to keep coming. If you guys keep pushing this bag, we're going to keep really putting our voice out there in support. But I'm definitely not a. Supporter pushing this back. We need to make the decision now. And you guys already heard the testimonies and the stories and my story as a worker. So I think that you need to stand with us. So thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker, please. I don't agree with the postponement. So my name is Frank Trejo. I'm a fast food worker at McDonald's. I started working for McDonald's three years ago. I started working there because of the difficult financial situation my family was in. If I didn't get a job quickly, we would have been we will probably be homeless. I have three sisters and six brothers. My family counts on me to make to be able to make ends meet. I've been with five for 15 for a year because as a young worker, we deserve to be treated with respect and dignity , just like any other worker. I joined the fight when I when I saw how many of my closest friends and family were living in poverty. And I saw how fighting in $15 can help. Everyone should be. Everyone should be making livable wages, including students who have to pay for classes, books, transportation to go to school, work and home while still supporting their families. Things are expensive nowadays. And in order to make in order to care for myself, I have to work. I work. I work to sustain myself and my family. I work to survive. Not for fun. Young workers like myself should be should be compensated just like any other workers in the city. We deserve to be paid 100% for all the work that we do. The learners wage is just another loophole for wage theft to occur. The learners wage is wasted at. Raising and enforcing the wage raising and enforcing wage in Long Beach way will help workers like myself recover stolen wages. I support raising and forcing the wage and the wage in Long Beach way. The learner's wage needs to be stricken, stricken out. We need to. In the wage lift now. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. And again, just if we can try to just to stick to the issue of moving or not moving the the agenda item, that's what's on the table. Thank you. Next speaker. Hi. My name is Gabrielle Sabol. I live in the seventh district of Long Beach and I am against postponing this agenda item. I'm here today as a member of Gabrielle in Los Angeles and as an organization that advocates for the rights and welfare of Filipina women and their families. We think that this minimum wage policy needs to happen now, $15. Now, with strong wage enforcement, there are over 30,000 Filipinos living in Long Beach, and we shouldn't have to make them wait for this to happen. Gabriela Ella actually partnered with the Filipino Migrant Center to knock on 110 doors on the West Side in order to get to know Filipinos. Their stories and why 96% of them were in support of raising the minimum wage. They told us that many of them had earned college degrees and worked as professionals in the Philippines. The problem is that when they got here, their credentials in transfer over. So we have doctors working as nurses, teachers working as daycare personnel, engineers working as mechanics. Why the downgrade? Why do they choose to work laborious jobs with long hours and low wages? The overwhelming response was that they wanted a better life, not even for themselves, but for their children. It's no wonder that they want to raise the wage now. In addition, these workers, as they wait, are being exposed to exploitative working conditions. 62% of those surveyed experienced at least one form of wage theft, being underpaid, denied breaks, working unpaid overtime. And it wasn't those we spoke to either. Just. It wasn't just them. 41% of them said they knew someone else who had experienced wage theft, too. And this so-called learners wage that's being proposed would just contribute to the prevalence of wage theft in the workplace. This is not right. And it's not just and it's not just to postpone this issue. If people are doing their work, shouldn't they be able to collect the wages that they've rightfully earned if their labor is being exploited? Shouldn't workers be able to voice these concerns without fear of losing their jobs? A higher minimum wage today could radically change the lives of these workers. Now, parents would be able to see their children more often if they didn't have to work two jobs to make ends meet. That could happen today. Women trapped in abusive relationships due to lack of economic means could escape to safety with her children soon. Today, if this discussion were to continue, the bottom line is that workers need this money now. Their bills are coming now. Their children are growing now. And food needs to be on the table now. Why make them wait when we could do this? The Long Beach way? Rejecting this wage theft trust up as a learner's wage and $15 now with funding for a robust wage enforcement bureau and workers protections. Thank you. Q Next speaker, please. Hello. So I'm here tonight with two hats on one. I'm a member of Black Lives Matter, Long Beach chapter. And two, we are a member of this coalition around wage theft to to to increase the minimum wage and to protect and collect and enforce wages for workers here in Long Beach, because we all know good jobs are important to all of our folks. And so we are against and I am against pushing back this item once again. What it feels like is the tone is being set of disregarding certain types of people in our city. Right. So people have been waiting for their wage increases since January of this year. And those impacted by wage theft have been fighting for and waiting for. Each of you are two pathways enforcement policies like collections of their stolen wages for at least about two years. Now, the tone being said is a projection or an image or a culture of not caring about or not prioritize certain groups of people who you are representing, who placed you in these seats. It's it's inconsiderate, frankly, Ryan, it feels pretty disrespectful as apparent attempts are being made to continue to kick people's economic and financial livelihoods, which are right now in your hands, further down the road or to the state to address what you can address today. We are Long Beach residents, many of whom are impacted by Long Beach employers, shortening wages so that we so we Long Beach need to protect, collect and enforce and not just rely on the state to do the jobs that we all you all can do here today, though, one of the last time I was here was to talk about the impacts in our communities from police violence. As I mentioned, on With Black Lives Matter. Right, and the harassment and murder committed by Long Beach police, specifically around cases like Tyler Woods, who was shot in his back 19 times where the officer reloaded his clip, where he was witnessed stating that niggers should not have moved. Right. So when we were here talking about those issues around Hector Morricone and Dante Jordan and Lionel Gibson, to name a few hours, were being spent giving accommodations and a lot of space for someone who could have received those accommodations that they're going away party afterwards. But then when some wanted to very quickly cut off some speakers who were conveying concerns for black lives being taken, not as much love or consideration was given. It was the prioritization of a different group of folks. They felt like, So you say you want the community to be civically engaged and part of the decision making processes. And so they prepared to do that, arrange to leave work early, arrange to pay extra childcare, to be here tonight in the evening, prepared to overcome their fears of retaliation for publicly sharing about the ways their wages are being shortened and stolen. And then again with what's being protected is a culture of disregard. And so you wonder why people are being forced to resort to very different tactics and approaches to get to to get you to take care of people who are hurting like victims of police violence or people who are waiting for you to help them get their stolen wages back more seriously. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate that. And see no other I don't I don't think I see any other public comment. I a sure. I have. No problem. I'd approach the bench. But actually just. Yeah. Just just go and present that will present it after we'll give it to the clerk. All right. So I'm just very quickly, I want to address everyone. My council member isn't here, but I wrote her directly. The hallmark of any honorable representative of any district in Long Beach should have a record of challenging ideas. Could you. Would you mind speaking to the mike? Can you hear me say. Hi. Hi. The hallmark of any honorable representative of any district of Long Beach should have a record of challenging desk ideas act informed instead of not. You got it. Okay. We also expect our representatives to be an independent voice in local affairs. You must be familiar with proven design methods of citizen participation and also the identifiers when citizen participation is limited. There isn't that much dissent allowed. I have a question for my council member. Usually what made her leave the lucrative career of a legal practitioner to serve the public, usually private interests or their aims devoted after a legal , successful career as a district attorney and not a position of city council member because they don't wield that much power. Historically, the local arena is where many areas of concern are to be addressed in that act of ignorance. So just really quickly. Well, it just has to be on the agenda item, which is whether. Or not to pay. What about I question what local legislative service y'all wish to provide your constituents if you are complicit in violence against residents of Long Beach? You're helping protect this house. This house? Wait. Yeah, man, this has to be on the agenda item, which is on whether or not complex. Are you guys talking about complexes? This isn't a complex issue. What about your path? Your path of willful ignorance will not continue to alienate people from their services. This is not on the item we. Have standing. Here. We can only here on the item in front of us, which is not by that darky. So you can provide the. Document civil rights era. And I am wondering where the maturation of that is. Ma'am, this is this is not the item. And of course, Black Lives Matter. I was like. There. Okay. Thank you. So with that, we've closed public comment on and the item in front of us. There's a motion there's a motion by Councilman Andrews and a second by Councilmember Austin, which is to move the item two weeks. Councilman Andrews, you want to speak to this motion? Okay. Councilman Austin, you wanna speak to your motion? Yeah, sure. I join with Councilmember Andrews in. And in support of Susie Price's request that this be held over. I think there is a precedence on this council that has been actually established, particularly when we have large citywide, major citywide issues. We're not going into effect until January one, 2017. And so there is time to 2 to 2 to allow for the council to weigh in on this in a in a manner that that would be. Inclusive of us all. And so I second a motion. Vice Mayor Richardson. Thank you, Mayor Garcia. So I just wanted to chime in and acknowledge all of the community members who have come out today and have come out at the last point that we were going to take this up and just acknowledge and encourage you to continue to, you know, fight the good fight. Sometimes these things happen. And, you know, I think it was articulated well just a moment ago that it's sometimes it's okay to take your time and get it right and make sure everybody has a chance to weigh in on it so that, you know, when there's some finality to it, when it when it does happen. I do want to ask a question of city staff. Just could you just clarify whether pushing it back two weeks would delay or affect or impact the timeline whatsoever? It will not. So so that said, I totally understand the frustration when you come back, but we want to make sure that this is you know, this is something that we can all be proud of and that we did it the right way. So I'd rather take a much slower win then than a rushed, a rushed experience here. So those are my comments. I'm going to support the motion. Thank you. Councilmember Pearce. Thank you, everybody. I wanted to also recognize the time that you guys took away from your family, from work, to come out tonight and really recognize that your engagement in this process is not. You know, it's a big deal to sacrifice all of that. And I you know, this is my first time with minimum wage and there's been a lot of work that was done prior to and recognize that in the future, we want to make sure that should we have a request to move something, that that request be done with enough time so that we can engage residents, so that we can make sure that those stakeholders that want to be a part of the process have enough time to make adjustments. And so recognizing, you know, as our city attorney has said, that it wouldn't affect implementation, that I encourage you guys to, no matter what happens with the vote tonight, to continue to be engaged as much as possible. Thank you, guys, for your sacrifices. Thank you, Councilman Ringo. Thank you, Mayor. You know, when we put something on the agenda, it's our responsibility to read it. To look at it to determine its implications and to determine whether or not we want to be here. I see a lot of people here who are ready to discuss this issue, who have taken time off from their jobs, taking time off from their families, taking time off from their personal time to be here, coming to council meetings isn't isn't fun. You know, you have to sit here two or 3 hours at a time listening to boring council members who have opinions about nearly everything and sometimes saying a lot with saying absolutely nothing. So in that respect, I know there are there are people on both sides of this issue. Employees as well as employers who are ready to talk about this and have taken the time from their calendars to be here tonight. So in acknowledgment of that, I'm not going to be I'm not in favor of postponing this discussion because I think people are here ready to talk about it. And I think that we need to hear it. So I'm not a I'm not here to be supporting this motion. Councilwoman Mongo. I'd like to make a friendly that boring council members only get to speak on items for 30 seconds. A second that. There's a I think everyone's made their comments there's been a motion and a second the motion is to postpone for two weeks and please cast your votes. Motion carries. Okay. Motion carries. I will be able. We'll be back to discuss that. Let me go ahead and take item 21. We take a couple of items before we do the budget. So we're going to take item 21, please, Madam Kirk.