In her September 16th op-ed, Mayor Lauren Meister defends the vote she and Councilmember John Duran took on March 21, 2016 against raising the citywide minimum wage to $15 an hour. UNITE HERE Local 11 PAC sent information to voters about her vote. Larry Block, in his op-ed “The Race Is On,” writes that UNITE HERE Local 11’s argument of was “not an honest message” because “Duran was not on the City Council at the time of the vote.”
Alan Strasburg, another WEHOville writer, went further, calling the claim “an outright lie”. These are outrageous allegations given that both the link in our text message and the footnote on the mailer both cite WEHOville’s own reporting showing that Meister and Duran did in fact vote against the $15 minimum wage.
The biggest problem for Block and Strasburg is that Mayor Meister herself admits she and Duran took this vote. Let’s look at the history. By 2016, the City of Los Angeles was already on its way to a $15 minimum wage, which was the result of the great risks low wage service workers had taken in the “Fight For $15” movement. Many other neighboring cities were joining in on this common-sense legislation, and West Hollywood had a chance to support the movement at that important juncture. Instead Meister and Duran undercut the Los Angeles effort.
Meister writes:
“Why would Council risk hurting our small businesses when we could offer a compromise to accommodate both workers and businesses as well as a commitment to continue the...
Somerset Council said it is seeing more online material, including edited images and posts, which does not always accurately reflect council decisions or the full context behind them. A spokespers...