An "Independent" Candidate for Mayor

'Living wage' plan needs more study

Bridgeport's City Council would be wise to postpone definitive action on a so-called "living wage" ordinance until council members have a complete understanding of what it would cost the city and its taxpayers.
The legislation, which cleared a council committee last week, is up for a public hearing tonight at 6 o'clock in City Hall. Some council members have indicated that the full council could vote on the proposal later in the evening.
That would not be a wise move for several reasons.
Most important, Bridgeport city officials have yet to complete a cost-impact analysis of the legislation on city taxpayers and that's a key question before such an initiative should move forward for a vote.
The last time a "living wage" ordinance — a tool used by organized labor and community activists to up the wages of some employees — gained traction in the Bridgeport City Council was in 2001. The plan was swiftly scrapped by then-Mayor Joseph P. Ganim and then-City Council President John M. Fabrizi, the city's current mayor, because analyses showed the cost for city taxpayers would have been too burdensome.
The timing of the current proposal, sponsored by Council members Keith Rodgerson, an independent candidate for mayor, and Maria I. Valle, is also inopportune.
Bridgeport will be electing a new mayor and City Council, in less than a month. It is unfair to saddle a new political administration with a law that could force the city to raise taxes or prune its workforce to meet the additional costs of projects being undertaken under the law.
The proposal would essentially increase the hourly wage for laborers working for firms working on city construction projects and subsidized developments, including projects being done by nonprofit groups.
The hourly wage required would be hiked from the current state minimum wage of $7.65 per hour to $11 per hour and also add another $3 per hour to the salary if the employer does not provide health insurance to its workers.
You can bet that the firms required to boost the hourly wages won't be assuming those costs but, rather, passing them along to the city.
It remains that a thorough economic analysis of this proposal from a variety of perspectives is required before the council puts it to a final vote — and we're a long way from that point.