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Las Cruces City Manager Recommends Repeal Of $8.50 Minimum Wage, Discussion Of Changes To $10.10 Law

Las Cruces City Manager Robert Garza

  The minimum wage controversy in Las Cruces continues to grow more complicated.  Now, it appears the Las Cruces City Council may modify the minimum wage ordinance it recently approved.  That ordinance, proposed by the group Café, would have raised the minimum wage incrementally over the next two years.  It would have been $10.10 per hour in 2017, and would have risen in subsequent years to keep up with inflation. 

In his weekly newsletter, city manager Robert Garza has directed the city attorney to assume the city council will repeal an earlier minimum wage law that would have raised the minimum wage to $8.50 by 2016. 

Moreover, Garza recommends that the city council discuss a variety of issues to “adopt a modified minimum wage ordinance” if deemed appropriate at a work session scheduled for October 27.  Garza recommends specific items to be discussed by the council, including minimum wage amounts and the timeline for those amounts.  He also suggests discussion of possible exemptions in the minimum wage law and possible changes for tipped workers.

All this, amid anger by some over the fact that voters won't get a chance to decide on the $10.10 minimum wage law in the November election. 

Here is the full text of Garza’s letter:

Staff is beginning to develop agenda packets for the October work session on the topic of the minimum wage ordinance. There has been considerable discussion about the recent adoption of a second minimum wage ordinance and varied views and interpretations of that City Council action  given the fact there was already a minimum wage ordinance on the books. As city manager, it is my responsibility to implement policies established by City Council and provide clear direction to staff to help them align their actions with the established policy. Given the dilemma created by adoption of a second minimum wage ordinance, the traditional path forward is somewhat blurred.

I feel it is my duty to provide a reasonable path forward for both staff and City Council to ensure clarity is established prior to implementation dates within the ordinance(s).

Therefore, for purposes of developing a productive work session discussion, I have directed the city attorney to assume that the City Council will repeal the first minimum wage ordinance adopted on June 2, 2014, effectively putting it aside for City Council disposition, and focus solely on the second minimum wage ordinance adopted at a special meeting on September 8, 2014. It will be the recommendation of the city manager for City Council to repeal the first document coincident with affirmation or amendment of the other.

Below is a list of elements of the minimum wage ordinance I am recommending for discussion with City Council at the October 27th work session.

1. Enforcement Provisions

2. Interrelated Issues

 a. Minimum Wage Amounts

 b. Implementation Timelines

 c. Exemptions

3. Tipped Workers

If we all proceed with this simplified approach, the viability of moving forward with clear direction increases significantly. I anticipate the next steps to include consideration of an ordinance in November to repeal the first adopted minimum wage ordinance and another to adopt a modified minimum wage ordinance if deemed appropriate at the work session. I am hopeful this direction will help guide a productive and mutually agreeable outcome. A full agenda transmittal will be developed and published in advance of the work session per our standard operating procedures.