Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

I’ve done a series of blogs on the facts about the Worker Power initiative now known as Proposition 499 on your November 5^th General Election ballot.

Here are some final thoughts. This initiative did NOT come from the City of Glendale. It is NOT sponsored by the City of Glendale. It came from the Worker Power Super PAC, a radical group with California ambitions. Various cities in California have adopted higher minimum wages, especially for fast food workers. It is destroying that industry in California.

Legally, all that the city is allowed to do is explain what is in Proposition 499. It legally, cannot support or oppose it.

As a citizen and registered voter in Glendale, I can oppose it and I do. It is bad for Glendale. It will have the effect of raising the prices for all kinds of entertainment and that cost will be passed on to you, the consumer. It will cause workers to be laid off or to face a reduction in their work hours, as has occurred in California.

It will cause you, the taxpayer, to pay a million dollars a year for the creation of a new Labor Department to monitor all the rules and regulations that are part of this initiative. That’s just a minimum estimate. If it is created, it will grow over time. In this year’s budget, each department’s expenses range from $1.2 million (city clerk) to $122 million (police).

The unintended consequences of such a draconian law will hurt Glendale. It puts Glendale at a disadvantage with every city in the state. What businesses will want to locate in Glendale knowing that its minimum wage is higher than every other city in the state? No one.

California has some of the most breathtaking scenery. I used to love to go over there and spend time by the ocean. No more. Homeless people, drug addicts and trash everywhere. Prices are sky high. Have you ever purchased gas over there?

Now I call it “the land of fruits and nuts.” Statistically, more people are leaving California than moving into it. Let’s not turn Glendale into another California.

This is a bad idea and deserves a “no” vote at the November 5^th’s General Election. I urge you to vote by Early Ballot or in person on election day. Tell Worker Power that their California-style initiative is not good for Glendale.

NO ON PROPOSITION 499

^{© Joyce Clark, 2024}    

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