Mayor Lee backs city effort to craft consensus minimum‑wage ballot measure; officials aim for November

During the board’s question time Mayor Ed Lee said increasing San Francisco’s minimum wage is “one of my top priorities for 2014” and that he and city supervisors were working with labor, business and nonprofit leaders on a single, consensus ballot measure for November.

Supervisor John Maher asked the mayor how the city would balance the size of a wage increase with concerns from small businesses and nonprofits. The mayor said the city is participating in ongoing meetings with labor unions, small business groups and nonprofit representatives to craft an increase that can win broad support. He noted that San Francisco’s current minimum wage was $10.74 after CPI adjustments and cited other cities and states that have pursued higher floors.

Why it matters: San Francisco is among a group of cities and states seeking higher local or statewide minimum wages amid an ongoing national debate. A locally approved increase would affect thousands of workers and could ripple through small business and nonprofit budgets—issues supervisors and the mayor said they were trying to address through outreach and compromise.

What sponsors said: the mayor urged a consensus approach and acknowledged concerns about impacts to small businesses and nonprofit employers. He said the aim was to place 1 measure on the November ballot so stakeholders “work together and not against each other.”

Next steps: city leaders said they would continue stakeholder meetings and hope to finalize a ballot measure in time for November’s election.

Quote: Mayor Lee said, “I am completely committed to increasing it this year, and I hope we can all join together to support 1 consensus measure.”