Wednesday night begins a new phase in the process to raise the minimum wage in Seattle as the City Council gathers at First Hill’s Town Hall for a public hearing on the issue:

The City Council Committee on Minimum Wage and Income Inequality & the City of Seattle Income Inequality Advisory Committee will hold a joint Public Hearing on Minimum Wage.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014        

Town Hall Seattle        

Eighth Avenue & Seneca Street        

 Seattle, WA 98101

Public Hearing—Members of the public may speak for up to two minutes about the idea of raising the minimum wage in Seattle. Doors to the event on Eighth Avenue will be open and speaker sign-in sheets will be available at 5:00 p.m.

You may submit written comments to Councilmembers at Seattle City Council, PO Box 34025, Seattle, WA 98124-4025 or or mailto:[email protected].

Comments will be included in the public record.

Tuesday, CHS was on hand as City Council member and $15/hour champion Kshama Sawant warmed up for the Town Hall with a debate on her home turf at Seattle Central. Sawant acknowledged the fragility of small, local businesses in the debate. “This economy does not support small businesses,” she said.”It is an obstacle-riddled path to start a small business,” she said. Full coverage of the “War on Wages” debate is here.

CHS also surveyed readers on possible solutions for helping to protect local businesses as the higher wage is implemented. You can see the results through this morning below.

Here are the mitigations the more than 50 respondents who identified themselves as business owners said they were most likely to support:

Here is how the few (20) who said they owned businesses that employ minimum wage workers answered:

And here is how the people who responded as non-owners saw the options:

Perusing the “Other” responses, it was clear that many people feel tips should be included in any “total compensation” concept. We didn’t specify that so many respondents used the other field to let us know. A selection of the Other responses is below:

• Increase business taxes for larger businesses and reduce taxes for smaller businesses.
• Include tips in the total compensation.
• Immediate $15/hr per worker. Period. If you own a business and you have employees, you can pay $15/hr.
• let the market dictate…not a socialist
• After an initial jump, index to CPI.
• No increase. Earned Income Tax Credit is the only fair way to solve this problem.
• cap on rent increases
• just say a CEO can not make 100% more than the lowest paid employee.

And, our favorite, perhaps most honest response of the bunch:

• not sure

Working Washington says it and other groups are preparing a large presence at Wednesday night’s forum:

Healthcare workers, retail workers, fast food workers, childcare providers, and other supporters of $15 for Seattle will speak out about how a $15 minimum wage will change their lives at Wednesday’s public hearing on the minimum wage, hosted jointly by the City Council and the mayor’s income inequality advisory committee at Town Hall Seattle.

Beginning at 4:30 pm, workers and other supporters of $15 for Seattle will be outside the event with T-shirts, buttons, and window signs that explain what low-wage workers will do with a $15 wage. See our fact sheet for more information on how higher wages boost spending at bookstores, restaurants, and other businesses.

Wednesday’s Town Hall is prelude to what will likely be months of continued public discussion and debate around income inequality in the city. The next big public opportunity to dig in on the problem and opportunity in our area comes at the end of the month with a March 27th Income Inequality Symposium scheduled for Seattle U’s Campion Ballroom.

Mayor Ed Murray’s task force is slated to deliver a set of recommendations for raising the wage in April. You can learn more about the Income Inequality Advisory Committee here. The Mayor’s “Online Town Hall” on income inequality is also off to a rather quiet start at http://incomeinequality.mindmixer.com/ 

In the meanwhile, Sawant’s camp continues to prepare legislation that she has promised to present to Council in “early 2014.” $15 Now and other groups are also pushing forward on preparations for possible ballot initiatives to turn the decision over to voters should City Hall stumble in its progress to address the minimum wage issue.