A post was made on Calitics on February 28th concerning Lt. Governor Candidate Janice Hanh's proposal to "lay off private contractors rather than lay off city workers." A case was made then that it was a mistake to throw private contractors under the bus without regard to the fiscal impact to the City of Los Angeles. Now the CEO of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, in an article published recently in CityWatch with the heading Being Attacked Under Another Name, roundly criticizes Candidate Hahn and attempts to teach her a thing or two about the impact of her suggestion.
From the article...
In Los Angeles, some members of the L.A. City Council are also taking advantage of the "name" ruse. During last month's debate over the city's unsustainable budget, Councilmember Janice Hahn told a packed room that "It's time for us to lay off private contractors and keep our city workers!" Councilmember Paul Koretz also wants the city's independent contractors to take a 10 percent across-the-board cut before any layoffs of city workers.
That call to action may generate a brief standing ovation from city employees in Council Chambers, but it sends a message to hundreds of small businesses and their employees throughout Los Angeles that they are second-class citizens. Those independent contractors employ tens of thousands of Angelenos and are part of the private sector workplace in Los Angeles County that has already been forced to lay off nearly one-half million workers since the great recession started.
If "small business" had been substituted for "independent contractor," these proposals would likely go nowhere and the rhetorical flourishes would have fallen flat. At the end of the day, this is about small businesses and jobs in Los Angeles and throughout the state.
So, when you hear elected officials piling onto "independent contractors" remind them that they are really talking about small businesses - perhaps even yours.
Gary Toebben is the President and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce ... www.lachamber.com
One can only wonder the impact of Candidate Hahn's proposal will have on voters who are small business owners and/or members of the Los Angeles Chamber, not to mention, an endorsement.
