Phone interview with Kenneth Jackson

(1) According to Councilor Blake Caravati, the City of Charlottesville offers short term Employee Assistance Program counseling services to employees and anyone in their households. Beyond that, the City is barred by the State (under the so-called "Dillon Rule") from offering domestic partner benefits.

Do you support domestic partner benefits for City employees?

I think that as long as they're going to pay the same premiums, they deserve to get the same coverage. I will say that it is not my first priority - I do want to focus on what I think are more important issues for Charlottesville.

[Editor's note: Galloway Beck, head of the City's Human Resources Dep't, indicates that if it were decided to extend benefits to domestic partners, they would pay premiums at the same level as spouses do now.]

(2) According to the Virginia Organizing Project, "Over the years the Charlottesville City Council has made several commitments to pay a living wage to all city employees, and to require contracts paid with city money (over $15,000) to include a provision that all workers be paid a living wage. In 2004, a "living wage" that is tied to the federal poverty level would mean that the city should be paying $9.00 an hour. They are not."

Do you support increasing the City "living wage" minimum to $9 per hour?

Well in fact I don't think $9 is enough - I've heard that the true figure for Charlottesville [for a family of four] should be about $13. While I do favor [the concept of] a living wage as a matter of social justice, I'm concerned that it will raise the cost--the city is not a business, so either you raise taxes or reduce services somewhere. And the same thing for contractors--if you increase their cost [by mandating a living wage] they've got to charge the city more or cut corners somewhere--use fewer workers. So you might wind up hurting some working people by doing this.

- Dave Sagarin, February 27, 2004