Sunnyvale to consider freezing minimum wage for a year

Sunnyvale, which considers itself a trailblazer for having one of the higher minimum wage requirements in a region where the soaring cost of living continues to drive away low-paid workers, may now consider temporarily slowing its pace so neighboring cities can catch up.

All employees of city government and companies doing business in Sunnyvale have been making at least $15 an hour since January under provisions of an ordinance adopted three years ago. The rate is set to be adjusted for inflation at the beginning of 2019, which based on the current Consumer Price Index would go up 53 cents.

But some council members said they’re open to holding off on the next raise for the sake of maintaining “regional consistency.” The council voted 5-2 on July 31 to revisit the ordinance on Sept. 11, at which point it’ll essentially decide whether to delay the next wage increase or let it take effect.

A postponement would require an amendment to the city’s minimum wage ordinance, which went into effect in 2015. The city is also looking at adopting

a 5 percent cap on rate increases.

Mountain View’s council is considering a similar pause. Along with Sunnyvale, it has the highest minimum wage rate requirement in the county. Many other area cities have adopted ordinances to incrementally raise their minimum wage to $15 per hour

by 2019, with annual adjustments to start in 2020. San Jose, Palo Alto, Los Altos and Cupertino will increase their minimum wage rates from $13.50 to $15 in January, Santa Clara from $13 to $15 in January and Milpitas to $15 by July 2019.

The statewide rate will jump from $11 to $12 next year and incrementally rise to $15 by 2022. Campbell, Los Gatos, Gilroy, Saratoga and Morgan Hill are following the state’s lead.

Sunnyvale Councilman Jim Griffith, who called for higher wages across the region as president of the Santa Clara County Cities Association two years ago, made a strong case last week for skipping the next raise to achieve regional wage parity.

“We needed an end result with a level playing field,” he said. “Otherwise some cities could lobby businesses saying, ‘hey we’re cheaper than Sunnyvale’ and try and get them to

move to their cities while other businesses could be stealing workers saying, ‘hey we pay more than them because of the minimum wage,’ ” he said.

Although Vice Mayor Larry Klein and council members Gustav Larsson and Nancy Smith expressed support for delaying the next increase for a year, councilmen Russ Melton and Michael Goldman didn’t.

While Goldman claimed the issue didn’t merit the

city staff’s time to study, Melton worried about the “pocketbook impact” that delaying the increase would have on the city’s minimum wage earners. He said that for a couple who works full-time, 53 cents an hour can make a difference of roughly $2,200 a year. “On average, that’s a monthly rent in Sunnyvale,” he said.

“I actually think the public interest would be served by having other cities keep apace with Sunnyvale,” he said. “I would argue that they accelerate instead of Sunnyvale decelerating.”