Readers React: Will a wage boost lift all boats or push jobs out of L.A.?

To the editor: Millions of Americans do not earn enough to pay for basic necessities. Being benevolent souls, we provide an expensive and inefficient safety net to help those in need. (“Would an L.A. minimum wage hike push businesses to nearby cities?,” Dec. 26)

Wouldn’t it be better if everyone could just earn a decent wage? In the long run, raising the minimum wage increases everyone’s standard of living. Sure, adjustments will have to be made, but they stand to be offset by lower welfare costs.

This would have to be done nationally to avoid consumers shifting their purchases to lower-cost areas.

Bob Isaacson, Hacienda Heights

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To the editor: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti can cite all the studies he wants on raising the minimum wage in Los Angeles; doing so doesn’t change the fact that businesses compete for survival by offering quality, cost-effective products for reasonable prices.

If regulations mandate higher costs, one way for businesses to compete is to move out of L.A. Retailers have limited options here, but for manufacturers the decision to move is a no-brainer.

Garcetti has stated that these moves will be unlikely as neighboring cities follow L.A.’s lead to avoid becoming “poverty pockets.” Tell that to a city like Burbank, which has a positive history of offering incentives to get business to move there.

Wake up, Mayor Garcetti: Private business is the engine that grows our local economy, and you are contemplating pulling the plug.

Andrew Chawke, Sherman Oaks

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To the editor: Golden Road Brewing head Tony Yanow asks, “Do you want to go somewhere you can make money, or do you want to go somewhere where they are stacking the cards against you?” I, an avid IPA aficionado, would respond that I would rather support a brewer who is willing to share his profits more equitably.

I applaud the entrepreneurial spirit of brewers like Yanow. They deserve their profits. Just how much do they think they need to make before they are willing to acknowledge the efforts of their employees by paying them a living wage?

I will be watching and making my decisions about where I enjoy my IPA. The greedy ones need to know they are not the only IPA experts in town.

Sharon Fane, Burbank

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