Santa Cruz leaders debate increasing minimum wage

Raising minimum wage is a hot topic nationally, but Santa Cruz city leaders are talking about doing it in their city. On Tuesday, council members are discussing whether or not to look further at raising the local minimum wage.

Local businesses said a small pay increase could really help their employees.

Katie Smith, a student in Santa Cruz, loves working at Buttercup Cakes but she’s worked hard to get a small raise over the $9 an hour minimum wage and it’s still not enough.

“I don’t have the means to go to school and work here. I mean, I like working here. But it’s not enough money to pay all the bills,” Smith said.

Smith lives with six other roommates, who each pay $500 a month in rent. Smith said she recently made the tough decision to leave Buttercup Cakes and move back home to Lodi.

“It’s sad. I mean, I like Santa Cruz,” Smith said.

If Santa Cruz decides to increase the minimum wage, it would be on top of the new state increase to $10 an hour that will start next year.

Workers at the Flip Flop Shop told me renting a space on Pacific Avenue is expensive enough. They only have two employees because they can’t afford to pay anyone else, or increase minimum wages. But city council members want the business community to understand they would be included in the discussion and research before any decision was made.

“So we are taking the very first baby steps to survey what’s being done in other communities and set up a process by which we might explore some local action,” councilmember Cynthia Matthews.

“I would like to give my employees an opportunity to survive and thrive in Santa Cruz,” business owner Anne Abernathy said.

Owners like Abernathy think they could keep good employees like Smith around for longer if the minimum wage goes up.

“I’m motivated to work harder just to get more of a pay increase versus just raising minimum wage,” Smith said.

But if she made more she wouldn’t have to leave a city she loves. Tuesday night city leaders approved a six week window for the Economic Development Department to bring back a framework for an evaluation process. That would include a group of local business owners and county partners to explore the idea. City Council plans to discuss the minimum wage issue again in six months.