Marta Mossburg's column ("A 'living wage' bill Baltimore can't live with," July 19) was short on logic and facts in charging that a proposed living wage law for large retailers in Baltimore would wreak havoc on the city's economy.
First, Ms. Mossburg illogically blamed Baltimore's 1994 living wage law --- which affected a small number of city service contractors and a few hundred workers of their workers --- for Baltimore's loss of population and work force since enactment. Any Econ 101 undergraduate understands that the challenges facing Baltimore's economy are unrelated to $10.59 an hour for Baltimore City's tiny number of contractual custodians, parking garage attendants, security guards and tree-trimmers. In fact, William T. Lester's rigorous study of cities with living wage laws has found no evidence that such wages depress employment or harm business climates (University of California, Berkeley, 2009).
Ms. Mossburg's other logical leap was giving credence to my friend Rob Santoni's claim that paying $10.59 an hour (or $8.59 plus benefits) would put him and his 100 Santoni's Supermarket employees out of business. After San Francisco enacted a similar wage law, major national retailers expanded the number of stores in the city from 207 to 241. This included a new Safeway supermarket, five new Walgreens, seven new 7-11's and four new Gaps --- hardly an exodus. When Santa Fe, N.M., did the same, Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Sunflower supermarkets all opened new stores. Thorough studies by the University of California and the University of New Mexico confirmed these experiences, finding no evidence of either job losses or a shrinkage of major retail locations.
Major retailers adjust, it seems, as living wages help working families reduce their reliance on government and faith-based services to make ends meet. So far in living wage cities, careful logic and research indicate that "All ships rise with the tide."
Mary Pat Clarke, Baltimore
The writer is a Baltimore City Council member and sponsor of the "living wage" proposal