EDITORIAL SAVING FACE.THERE'S a timeworn, but apt quote that every member of the Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. ought to blow up, print out and hang on their
office wall: ``Act in haste Adv. 1. in haste - in a hurried or hasty manner; "the way they buried him so hurriedly was disgraceful"; "hastily, he scanned the headlines"; "sold in haste and at a sacrifice"hastily, hurriedly ; repent re·pent 1 v. re·pent·ed, re·pent·ing, re·pents v.intr. 1. To feel remorse, contrition, or self-reproach for what one has done or failed to do; be contrite. 2. in leisure.'' Indeed, if only council members had kept that warning in mind when they acted in haste to adopt a living-wage ordinance A law, statute, or regulation enacted by a Municipal Corporation. An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. A municipality, such as a city, town, village, or borough, is a political subdivision of a state within which a municipal corporation has been for LAX area hotels Nov. 22, they might not now be desperately scrambling for a way out of a nasty ballot confrontation with the city's business community. Because the labor unions labor union: see union, labor. that own most of the members wanted this measure so badly, the council ignored the obvious: That the 12 hotels targeted by the living-wage ordinance wouldn't accept this blatant discriminatory dis·crim·i·na·to·ry adj. 1. Marked by or showing prejudice; biased. 2. Making distinctions. dis·crim act without a good fight. And that's what they got. A coalition of hotels and business groups quickly launched a petition drive to force the ordinance to a referendum on the May ballot. They had the money and did it fast. And the hotels also have the money to force the city into a tough and expensive fight at a cost to taxpayers in the millions. The bill to campaign contributors could run as much as $15 million. That leaves the council in an ugly situation, one it most certainly deserves to be in. So council members, in a frantic effort to save face, are hoping the unions and the hotel operators will cut a deal that allows City Hall to save face even as it backs down. At meeting after meeting, the council has put off a decision and now is running out of time -- only two more meetings -- to decide whether to put the issue to a vote in May or rescind To declare a contract void—of no legal force or binding effect—from its inception and thereby restore the parties to the positions they would have occupied had no contract ever been made. rescind v. their living-wage action. The council holds out hope that a compromise will be found that takes the heat off them. The fact that what they approved is terrible public policy has never occurred to them. It's one thing for minimum-wage or living-wage measures to be imposed across vast areas like the state or nation but when it's applied to only one sector or even across the city, it creates an uneven playing field for business. Hopefully, voters will take notice of just how obedient the council is to the demands of labor leaders who have been unable to organize low-wage hotel workers but are able to buy highly paid politicians. Indeed, if voters were to hold the council accountable for this and its many other misdeeds, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. just might be able to attract good-paying jobs that would make the whole living-wage debate irrelevant. |
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