Article published December 24, 2003
‘Living wage’ law waivers OK’d as firm sizes up city
Toledo City Council backed away yesterday from strict adherence to its three-year-old "living wage" law, giving the city administration the right to waive the requirement twice a year on qualifying projects.
The move comes as city leaders disclosed they are talking with a firm interested in occupying the former AP Parts plant on Matzinger Road, Councilman Pete Gerken said after last night’s City Council meeting.
Council voted 11-0 last night to permit the mayor to remove the living wage law twice a year on projects he or she designates as "crucial to the economic development of the city."
The living wage law still applies only to companies working on city contracts or benefiting from economic assistance, such as tax abatement or bond financing.
Currently, the law defines a living wage as $10.03 an hour if the employer provides health insurance, and more if it does not.
Many details, including the identity of the firm, were not available last night.
"It is premature for us to be commenting on this issue," Mary Chris Skeldon, a spokeswoman for Mayor Jack Ford, said.
Mr. Gerken, who helped author the living wage law, said the two annual waivers are a concession to difficult economic times. The closing of Food Town supermarkets and Baron Drawn Steel are just two examples, he said.
"For me, this is not a retrenchment on where to help the lesser projects," he said. "We suddenly have a lower floor. This area has a huge queue of skilled workers looking for jobs."
About six weeks ago he was talking with several city officials who mentioned the old AP Parts site, he said.
"I was asked, ‘What if we had someone with 300 jobs willing to pay $9.75 an hour. What would you think?’" he said. "And I said, ‘You could use [one of the two annual exemptions] as one of your chips.’"
Mr. Gerken said he was not a part of the recruiting effort. The mayor’s two waivers are in a small package of definitions in the revised living wage law adopted by council.
An important change will allow seasonal employees working for the city to qualify sooner to receive a living wage. Qualifying under the new definition will depend on the number of hours rather than the number of weeks they work.
"If we are going to help ourselves, I also want to help the business community," Mr. Gerken said.
Until now, changes in the living wage law have been limited to allowing an exemption at Southwyck Shopping Center should redevelopment occur there.
In other action, local businesses will have an easier time getting work on small city projects valued at $10,000 to $40,000 as a result of an ordinance approved by council.
It allows the mayor’s office to request price quotes informally from businesses on relatively small jobs without requiring the firms to turn in formal bid documents.
Submitting detailed, formal bids on small projects has been costly and time-consuming for both companies and the city. Some firms saw little incentive to try for the work, said Councilman George Sarantou.
"This should help local contractors to do bidding who don’t have the staff," Mr. Sarantou said. He said he hopes the change will draw more local firms to participate in city projects.
"The general contractors and the construction trades were very comfortable with this proposal," Mr. Sarantou said.
In addition, preference points for local firms will be increased 1 percent, action intended to encourage the growth of local business.
Successful price quotes selected by the city administration exceeding $10,000 still must be approved by City Council. Under the old law, any project valued higher than $10,000 required formal bidding. Work valued at less than $10,000 still will be awarded without bidding.
Permanent Link
|
|
 |
|
Search
advertisement
