The City of Santa Clara could have a new ordinance raising its minimum wage by midsummer. Council member Dominic Caserta led the effort to raise the wage to $11 an hour starting next January, with a plan to work with Sunnyvale and Mountain View on a regional $15 dollar an hour wage by 2018.
The Santa Clara Council held a study session with public comment Tuesday night in which they directed staff to meet with stakeholders throughout the city including small businesses and nonprofits. Caserta said there seemed to be a consensus on the part of the majority of the council after he suggested raising the wage to $11, although the discussion started out with a raise to $10.30 by January 2016 tied to the CPI.
Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Roy Truitt says his organization was on board with a $10.30 wage level after having done a long term study on it. Truitt says he’d like to do another examination of whether Santa Clara businesses can support the extra .70 cents before council takes up the issue, likely, in July.
Sunnyvale and Mountain View raised their minimum wage levels last fall and earlier this year, respectively, with an eye on the $15 level by 2018. The momentum for the wage increases comes from the South Bay Labor Council’s leadership, along with San Jose State students and a community coalition, in helping to pass a $2 increase in San Jose in 2012.
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