Both the Inside Scoop and Greensboro Politics are reporting that the effort to raise the minimum wage in Greensboro is “kaput.” Both sites state that the Greensboro City Council determined the wage hike was “state issue.” City attorneys had previously advised the council that the best way to get a minimum wage passed was through legislative action, but that was in light of the fact that the petition presented by wage supporters wouldn’t pass legal muster.
Greensboro Politics also wonders if wage supporters were mislead by the city. The way I see it, if anyone mislead them, it was the Guilford County Board of Elections. But, in my view, the board didn’t so much mislead them as much as they failed to provide them with a very important detail, such as the definition of “last preceding election.”
I’m getting ready to watch the video online, so I’ll weigh in later.
Update Here’s what happened: Acting city attorney Becky Jo Peterson-Buie advised the council that the minimum wage petition did not have enough signatures and that the deadline to get the needed signatures was Friday. The issue was going to rest until council member Mike Barber weighed in, relating the concerns expressed by small businesses over a minumum wage hike. Barber eventually introduced a motion to rescind the council’s provious action accepting the flawed petition, which passed by a vote of 5-3, with Mayor Yvonne Johnson and council members Goldie Wells and Dianne Bellamy-Small voting against.
A brief debate went afterward over the rules for submitting such a petition, with Wells once again insisting that the city, or the board of elections or whoever had changed the rules on the petitioners.
“The rules are the same, they just didn’t get it right the first time,” Barber replied.
