$22/hr min. for all city employees (Austin, Round Rock: city hall, crime, construction)

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Reminds me of that lady whining in a tv news interview several years ago how she was being unreasonably taxed out of her South Austin home.
She couldn’t understand it, even after voting in favor of every bond issue proposal to “make the city a better place to live”. Lol
If the city can find $25,000,000 to rebuild a washed out 110’ pedestrian bridge in a park and spend hundreds of millions on the “homeless”, surely they can find a few bucks to spare to pay public employees a $22/hour minimum wage to help fill their gas tanks for commuting to work.

That washed out bridge has been washed out since I moved here in 2015. It connects Krieg field to Guerrero park. There have been “desired paths” created in the area. My gripe is, throw $25 million at zilker and it’s praised. Throw it at Guerrero, which is LARGER than zilker and people hate it, I also assume some funding is coming from the America Rescue Act.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Sorry, no. Gas, taxes, food, rising costs due to materials and supply chain issues, yada yada.

And we’re not even talking about 22/hr you have grumbling about going from 15 to 22. 15/hr absolutely won’t cut it unless you’re living with mom and dad

The point I was trying to make, somebody who bought a house 20 years ago most likely their monthly mortgage payments are gonna be quite a bit less than if they if they bought the house today. By now, chances are that house is close to being paid for or might even already be totally paid off. So that's why I'm saying $15 to $22 will make a pretty good living for somebody who has a low or no mortgage payment to make each month. If anything it makes for a very good supplemental income.

It's just my opinion, minimum wage is not meant to be a permanent life time job/career. It's suppose to be for high school kids to get work experience and references for future jobs and for adults who are between jobs until something else comes along.

[blameyourself]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

The point I was trying to make, somebody who bought a house 20 years ago most likely their monthly mortgage payments are gonna be quite a bit less than if they if they bought the house today. By now, chances are that house is close to being paid for or might even already be totally paid off. So that's why I'm saying $15 to $22 will make a pretty good living for somebody who has a low or no mortgage payment to make each month. If anything it makes for a very good supplemental income.

It's just my opinion, minimum wage is not meant to be a permanent life time job/career. It's suppose to be for high school kids to get work experience and references for future jobs and for adults who are between jobs until something else comes along.

And what about the rest (which I assume would be the majority) that don't fit into your convenient, cherry picked example?

And then of course we have the classic minimum wage "talking point". For some, moving up the ranks on a city job is their career. So while that is in process, we should make sure they're life is as uncomfortable as possible I guess with a $15/hr job in a city where the average rent is $1735. For others that are able to improve upon their skill set and decide $15/hr ain't going to cut, we have unfilled positions. Should we just settle on insufficient city services because there's a minority that doesn't think the city should ever budge from paying $15/hr?

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

It's just my opinion, minimum wage is not meant to be a permanent life time job/career. It's suppose to be for high school kids to get work experience and references for future jobs and for adults who are between jobs until something else comes along.

How about people with intellectual delays or physical disabilities that will never be able to “move up”? Or people who, through legal means, relocate to Texas who don’t speak English but have skills from their homeland? (I do NOT want to turn this into an immigration debate). Or people who have children and can’t afford childcare and can’t commit to a more demanding career? So many barriers to moving up beyond minimum wage that you haven’t thought of.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

How about people with intellectual delays or physical disabilities that will never be able to “move up”? Or people who, through legal means, relocate to Texas who don’t speak English but have skills from their homeland? (I do NOT want to turn this into an immigration debate). Or people who have children and can’t afford childcare and can’t commit to a more demanding career? So many barriers to moving up beyond minimum wage that you haven’t thought of.

Unfortunately, I don't have all the answers. I was speaking mostly in generalities. We can "how about" it or "what if" it all night long. Each individual case would have to be looked at separately.. Generally speaking, the people who have intellectual delays or physical disabilities, I suppose they would qualify for some kind of government assistance. And the mother who has children and can't afford child care could probably also qualify for government assistance, but after the 2nd child, she needs to start being held accountable/responsible for choices she willingly made. No matter what system the government come up with, there's always gonna be somebody who gets the short end of the stick

Seems to me like teenagers who are in school and live comfortably at home and are working just for some spend money, work experience and references for future jobs, they should be able to work for half of $15 to $22, and that would save the employer a lot of money.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by blameyourself

And what about the rest (which I assume would be the majority) that don't fit into your convenient, cherry picked example?

And then of course we have the classic minimum wage "talking point". For some, moving up the ranks on a city job is their career. So while that is in process, we should make sure they're life is as uncomfortable as possible I guess with a $15/hr job in a city where the average rent is $1735. For others that are able to improve upon their skill set and decide $15/hr ain't going to cut, we have unfilled positions. Should we just settle on insufficient city services because there's a minority that doesn't think the city should ever budge from paying $15/hr?

What would you suggest to solve the problem?

[blameyourself]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

What would you suggest to solve the problem?

So no reply to my question first?

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by blameyourself

So no reply to my question first?

I apologize for that. In my most previous response to ashbeeigh, I meant to comment that post was also meant for "blameyourself", but by the time I finished typing it up, I forgot.

And that's why I asked in my most previous response to you, what "would you suggest to solve the problem?". The reason I asked is because I went back and re read this thread and you have asked lots of questions and made lots of comments and some snide/sarcastic remarks but offer up no solutions so, I thought that was appropriate question.

Again, what would you suggest to solve the problem?

[blameyourself]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

I apologize for that. In my most previous response to ashbeeigh, I meant to comment that post was also meant for "blameyourself", but by the time I finished typing it up, I forgot.

And that's why I asked in my most previous response to you, what "would you suggest to solve the problem?". The reason I asked is because I went back and re read this thread and you have asked lots of questions and made lots of comments and some snide/sarcastic remarks but offer up no solutions so, I thought that was appropriate question.

Again, what would you suggest to solve the problem?

Well your response didn't actually address my question which is why you would base compensation on a cherry picked anecdote of only people that have already established roots here, that were set up nicely with a low mortgage (and riaelsie responded in kind also to that....but for some reason I'm the one which treated you with sarcasm). I think the answer is something similar to what COL calculators do and use a comparative metric that take into account current living standards and not people set up in a nice, cherry picked scenario.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

The point I was trying to make, somebody who bought a house 20 years ago most likely their monthly mortgage payments are gonna be quite a bit less than if they if they bought the house today. By now, chances are that house is close to being paid for or might even already be totally paid off. So that's why I'm saying $15 to $22 will make a pretty good living for somebody who has a low or no mortgage payment to make each month. If anything it makes for a very good supplemental income.

It's just my opinion, minimum wage is not meant to be a permanent life time job/career. It's suppose to be for high school kids to get work experience and references for future jobs and for adults who are between jobs until something else comes along.

I think there is evidence that FDR intended the minimum wage to be a living wage. I strongly dislike the minimum wage, but Im an originalist when it comes to laws. If FDR meant for the minimum wage to be a living wage, then that is what it should be. Each congress can decide if they still want it to be a living wage, but it is clear historically that is what it is for.


https://publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu/...iving-wage.htm

One of the challenges with capitalism is a few people are extremely competent. Many people are incompetent. A purely merit/competitive system will have all the wealth flowing to the top. Minimum wage and other programs create inefficiencies, but spread the wealth around to those who are simple too incompetent to compete.

For the system to be stable in the long term, the people do need "bread and circuses".