Dianna Guzman is council member elect for Glendale's Yucca District
Posted
By Diana Guzman
Glendale councill member-elect
My name is Dianna Guzman, and I am your councilmember-Elect for Glendale's Yucca District. As a representative of our community, I feel it is my responsibility to speak out on issues that will significantly impact the future.
One such issue is Proposition 499, the so-called “Hotel and Event Center Minimum Wage and Wage Protection Act,” which will be on the upcoming ballot on Nov. 5. This proposition is has not been brought forward by the city of Glendale, but by the Worker Power Union PAC.
Proposition 499, will be a very damaging proposal for the city and we must encourage all Glendale residents to vote no on this proposition. Why? Because Proposition 499 will establish a wage and excessive working condition law on publicly or privately owned hotels, event centers and businesses.
Essentially, it will artificially force local businesses to pay a significant increase in salaries for hotel and event center workers and could force employers to pay significant annual increases. This shortsighted proposal would mandate what our local Glendale businesses must pay in overtime, and will restrict an employee's ability to voluntarily work overtime.
It will be mandatory for local businesses to try to comply with yet another layer of confusing government regulation aimed at penalizing employers.
Proposition 499 will also mandate a new taxpayer funded city Department of Labor Standards aimed at harassing local businesses. Please understand, Proposition 499 does not include a dedicated funding source to cover these extreme costs.
The city estimates the initial cost of opening a Department of Labor Standards to be $176, 802 just for software, computers, vehicles, and office supplies. The ongoing annual cost to the city to implement and provide staffing to comply with Proposition 499 is estimated at $866,673.
These are based on today's costs without consideration for potential inflation in future years.
How will the city pay for this new bureaucratic government office? There are only two options, The $1 million in ongoing expenditures will increase the City's budget and will result in either a tax increase to Glendale residents or reductions to existing essential services like police, fire and parks.
I for one will not be forced by outside interest and organized labor from California to raise taxes or cut essential services within the city I love.
Glendale voters should also be aware that since Proposition 499 uses the following definition to define an event center as, “a publicly or privately owned structure in the city of more than 20,000 square feet that is used for public performances,” this will include any sporting events (even high school events), business meetings, concert halls, stadiums, sports arenas, coliseums, and convention centers.
Additionally, it will regulate certain movie theaters, temporary hospitality structures greater than 20,000 square feet that may be utilized during the Super Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, College Football Playoff, NCAA Final Four and other special events.
There is another critical aspect of Proposition 499 that warrants discussion. There is a provision allowing minimum wage and working condition requirements to be waived if an employer enters into a collective bargaining agreement with a union.
What does this really mean? It means that the very protections this proposition claims to provide can be negotiated away if a union steps in.
This provision exposes the true motivation behind Proposition 499, a political agenda aimed at increasing union influence, rather than genuinely ensuring fair wages for workers. It's a back door approach to forcing unionization in our local businesses, placing them in a position where they must either comply with this burdensome law or negotiate away these requirements with a union.
Who benefits from this? Certainly not the workers, not the businesses, and not the taxpayers.
In conclusion, I strongly urge you to vote no on Proposition 499 and let your Glendale neighbors know to voted no as well. Let's collaborate to find better, more balance solutions that uplift our entire community and secure a prosperous future for Glendale, and solutions that prioritize the needs of our residents and businesses over special interests.
As your incoming council member, my goal is to ensure economic opportunity and growth while safeguarding Glendale from the undue burdens of proposals like Proposition 499.
Let's protect Glendale jobs and businesses and refuse to allow others to California our Glendale.
