Some of you may recall that in its March 1999 budget process, the Charlottesville City Council addressed the notion of a Liveable Wage. The commitment of the city to pay its employees an $8 living wage did not at that time extend to the Charlottesville School District. Nor did the commitment appear to extend to city contracts.

In her recent Letter to City Democrats asking for the nomination to city council, Meredith Richards noted her support for a guaranteed living wage for city employees. In their platform to select whom to support for nomination to city council, the Democrats for Change called for the city to "'contract only with firms paying living wage and full benefits'" and to "'encourage all local employers, including UVa, to pay living wage and full benefits'".

If you have comments about whether the Charlottesville School District should pay its employees a minimum of an $8 living wage, about whether the city council should only contract with firms paying a living wage and full benefits, about how the Charlottesville City Council might encourage all local employers to pay a living wage and full benefits, or about how adoption of a living wage policy might impact small business, please send them to george@loper.org.

Comments will be posted only with full attribution and please let me know whether you would like your e-mail address posted so that individuals can reach you directly.

To date, Blake Caravati, Henry Weinschenk, and Meredith Richards have responded.