Sonoma City Council to discuss raising minimum wage

Last night Sonoma’s City Council agreed to place the topic of raising the minimum wage in the City of Sonoma on a future agenda. The request was made by Vice-Mayor Amy Harrington, who under the current council rules needed the agreement of the majority of the council to fully explore and discuss the idea. Under those same rules, however, the public is allowed to speak, and seven-plus members of the public addressed the council, with comments ranging from support for placing the topic on the agenda to rather more full-throated support for raising the minimum wage.

The council members also descended into comments and discussion about the topic, even though the conversation was supposed to be limited to a “yes” or “no” on placing the matter on a future agenda. Ultimately, Vice-Mayor Harrington received unanimous support to move the topic forward. City Manager Capriola cautioned the council, however, not to set a time certain for the agenda item, indicating that staff time for preparation in advance of hearing the agenda item would be considerable. Vice-Mayor Harrington thanked her fellow council members for their support.