State Rep. Christine Chandler speaks during Monday’s town hall to discuss raising the minimum wage in Los Alamos County. The meeting was hosted by, seated from left, Los Alamos Middle School students Samatha Kranthijanya and Madeline Lueninghoener, Council Chair Denise Derkacs and Councilors Randall Ryti and Melanee Hand. Screenshot/LADP

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

When it comes to operating a business, there are no easy answers. What is best for the employee? What is best for the employer? What will benefit the whole community? Los Alamos County Councilors Randall Ryti, Melanee Hand and Chair Denise Derkacs hosted a town hall Monday night to spotlight one of the major issues facing businesses: wages.

Two Los Alamos Middle School students, Madeline Lueninghoener and Samatha Kranthijanya, brought the issue to council’s attention. They made their first proposal to raise the minimum wage from $12 an hour to $15 an hour during the May 23 council meeting. Furthermore, they proposed setting a minimum wage of $4 an hour for tipped workers.

During Monday’s town hall, members of the community and local business owners were able to weigh in on the issue.

No action was taken during the town hall and Derkacs said that any decision taken on minimum wage will be a deliberative process. In their presentation Monday night, Lueninghoener and Kranthijanya reported on why they believe an increase in the minimum wage is necessary. First, they said the cost of living in Los Alamos is more than the current minimum wage. The cost of living equates to $16.90 an hour. Raising the minimum wage would benefit the local economy, lift individuals out of poverty and increase worker productivity, the two students argued.

They did note there are consequences to consider, too. These include possible price increases and businesses closing. So, what did participants at the town hall think about this? There were some concerns.

“So, the Chamber of Commerce is very concerned about how this would impact the small business community,” Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce Director Ryn Herrmann said.

As a result, Herrmann said they polled Chamber members about raising minimum wage. To gage what its members felt, the chamber released a two-question survey that began on Friday. As of Monday night, it received more than 80 responses. Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation Executive Director Lauren McDaniel said more analysis and feedback will be sought on this issue.

In response to the question, are you in favor of raising the minimum wage, Herrmann said the results were:

• Yes: 54.43 percent
• No: 37.97 percent
• Maybe: 8.86 percent

The second question addressed how this would impact businesses. Herrmann said there were four statements for survey participants to consider. There was also an “other” option.

The first statement was that increasing minimum wage would make it easier to hire team members, lower turnover and save time and money. This got a 39.24 percent selection. The second statement was that higher labor costs would lead to increasing costs of goods and services.

This got a 37.97 percent selection. The third statement was that a minimum wage increase would give Los Alamos a competitive edge in hiring regionally. This received 34.18 percent selection. The third statement was an increase in minimum wage would cause businesses to hire fewer workers or offer lower benefits. This received a 17.72 percent selection. “Other” was at 31.65 percent. It was not reported what was included in “other”.

Herrmann said some businesses already offer pay that is above minimum wage.

“A number of local businesses reached out to me today with strong opinions about this,” she added. “I just want to say this is a very complex issue and the chamber will continue to engage the business community about this.”

Pet Pangaea owner Cyndi Wells offered her thoughts on the issue.

“I guess my question always is what is the problem we’re trying to solve,” she said. “The problem right now … is that living wage is higher than minimum. But then the question becomes is anyone actually paying minimum wage in this county to people that are looking at minimum wage. I appreciate the desire to pay people well. I’ve always paid employees the best I can. In fact, every single one of my employees makes more money than I do. I think that is the case for many small business owners in this community.”

However, Wells said a consequence of increasing minimum wage is that it dissuades business owners from giving job opportunities to potential employees with zero work experience.
“It kind of forces businesses, especially small businesses that have smaller pools of money, to hire more productive, full-time employees,” she said.

To address the poverty levels, Wells said she is a big proponent of better education and job training and reducing the cost of living in Los Alamos.

Maybe the issue isn’t so much wages but housing, David Hampton, treasurer of the Los Alamos Retirement Community, which consists of Aspen Ridge Assisted Living Facility and Sombrillo Nursing Home, said.

“One of the things I know the County is working on very hard right now is expanding the availability of affordable housing, which seems to be the biggest difficulty of living in the County…,” he said.

Lisa Shin, a local small business owner and health care provider, said increasing minimum wage on top of the proposed gross receipt tax just adds to the challenges of small businesses.

“I would not want to see more business closures, which I believe these two measures – the tax increase and the minimum wage increase – would do,” she said. “…I feel this minimum wage increase adds to the number of mandates and it creates a hostile regulatory climate that ultimately drives businesses away and makes it very hard for businesses to succeed.”

Village Arts Owner Ken Nebel also shared concerns.

“I think it is a great idea in principle, I would love to find out how much it would cost the County to do something like that … I have to say it worries me to be pressured on both ends to make ends meet,” he said. “The fact that there’s talk about a tax rate hike at the meeting tomorrow … I feel like one of the best ways to be putting money back in the hands of the population is to keep our tax rate lower. Right now they are lower than any of the surrounding counties, which has been fantastic, it means we receive a lot more business from outside the County than I think we typically would receive and that’s been a blessing to us … raising that at the same time as talking about all these other sorts of squeezes seems a little like some thought could be put into this process.”

Not everyone voiced doubts. State Rep. Christine Chandler said she felt the County was moving in the right direction.

“There’s a lot of talk in economic circles about how do you bring businesses to the state,” she said, adding that a lot of time is spent talking about tax benefits to bring businesses to the state.

“The paradigm is shifting and there’s a lot less talk about benefits for business and turning it around to say ok, what do businesses need,” Chandler said. “Businesses need workers right now. That’s what you need. That’s true in Los Alamos, I hear that regularly, and it’s very, very true in New Mexico … if we are identified as a state that has a supportive environment for workers, we will be known as a state that has a supportive environment for businesses because businesses need workers, and if we level the playing field by having a minimum wage so all businesses are playing from that field … we will have a reputation for competing regionally and we will be drawing people into the state.”

No matter their stance on the topic, one thing that seemed universally agreed upon during the town hall was that Lueninghoener and Kranthijanya taking initiative and being involved in local government is really cool.

“I really appreciate Madeline and Samatha … I appreciate that you are active in local government. I think that is awesome,” Wells said.

“I really appreciate you two being active, engaged and informed, trying to make change – I think it’s wonderful,” Shin said.

Chandler said she does hope Madeline and Samatha continue their involvement in local government and that they take their skills to the state level.

“I want to … commend Madeline and Samatha for bringing this forward,” Chandler said. “And I’m hoping to get you on my side in the upcoming legislative session as we’re talking about minimum wage, potentially …”