Davis writes: "A D.C. judge on Friday halted an effort to let voters decide
whether the city's minimum wage should be increased to $15 per hour,
attorneys said."
D.C. voters cast their ballots in April 2014. (photo: Evelyn Hockstein/WP)
Judge Halts DC Ballot Measure on Minimum Wage
By Aaron C. Davis, The Washington Post
02 February 16
A D.C. judge on Friday halted an effort to let voters decide whether the
city's minimum wage should be increased to $15 per hour, attorneys said.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Maurice A. Ross ruled that the problem wasn't the
measure itself but the body that agreed to let it proceed toward the ballot:
Every member of the D.C. Board of Elections was serving past their appointed
terms last year when they considered the issue. That, the judge found,
invalidated their decision.
Business groups that oppose a wage hike and have warned it would put the
District at a competitive disadvantage regionally applauded the judge's
ruling. After several previous attempts to derail the effort failed,
attorneys for former D.C. Chamber of Commerce president Harry Wingo on
Friday won essentially by arguing that the D.C. elections board wasn't
empowered to make any legal decisions.
For that, the judge's ruling may have implications beyond the minimum-wage
issue, even threatening a wave of follow-up lawsuits over the validity of
other elections over the past four years. That's because the elections board
has been operating with at least two of its three members serving on expired
terms since 2012.
So if the board couldn't make a legally binding decision during any of that
time: Is Muriel E. Bowser really the mayor? Did voters actually legalize
marijuana possession in 2014? Was Marion Barry's successor to the D.C.
Council lawfully elected last year?
Ross ruled from the bench Friday and told attorneys that a written order,
which is expected to define the scope of the decision, would come early next
week.
Elected leaders and government attorneys past and president on Friday rushed
to push back on the idea that the ruling could lead to widespread political
chaos.
But for at least a day, it made for odd bedfellows defending the validity of
recent elections and vowing to join forces in appealing Ross's ruling.
Former mayor Vincent C. Gray, who lost to Bowser during the 2014 Democratic
primary - and who left the board members in question seated past their terms
- said he would not question the outcome of his failed election to Bowser.
Organizers of the minimum-wage measure, who were most acutely affected by
Friday's ruling, said they hoped it would draw interest from Bowser and
others who have been lukewarm to the proposed minimum-wage increase.
"It goes to show that the chamber's business interests are willing to burn
the city down just to suppress the wages of workers," said Delvone Michael,
director of the D.C. chapter of the Working Families Party, part of a group
of labor unions and other progressive groups backing the measure.
Organizers of the measure have hoped to make the $15 minimum-wage fight a
backdrop to the presidential race in November.
Gray said he had been advised as mayor that an elections board member could
serve indefinitely, until a successor was confirmed by the council. He noted
that he had filled 900 vacancies on boards and commissions, and dissolved
more than 30 others, and had a team that had been attentive to keeping the
jobs filled.
"I'm not going to challenge an election on the basis of that," Gray said.
"There are other reasons why I think there might cause for a do-over [with
Bowser], but it's not attributable to this."
Asked if the mayor was the mayor, Bowser spokesman Michael Czin said,
"Seriously?" He added, "Once the order comes down, our legal team will
review it."
At issue in the case is contradictory language about whether a statute in
the District's Home Rule Act or a subsequent law that specified time
restrictions for appointing city board and commission members is the
controlling law.
It has been conventional wisdom in D.C. government headquarters that the
Home Rule Act is the guiding law. Ross suggested Friday that the subsequent
law that limits board members to serving 180 days past the end of their term
applies, attorneys said.
No matter the reasoning, Wingo, the former chamber president, said he was
pleased with the decision.
"We were always focused on the minimum wage and that it could put D.C. at a
competitive disadvantage. This was about a process, and a specific process,"
he said.
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D.C. voters cast their ballots in April 2014. (photo: Evelyn Hockstein/WP)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/judge-halts-progress-of-bal
lot-measure-to-raise-dcs-minimum-wage/2016/01/29/1112cdcc-c6cb-11e5-a4aa-f25
866ba0dc6_story.html?hpid=hp_local-news_dcelections829pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstoryh
ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/judge-halts-progress-of-ball
ot-measure-to-raise-dcs-minimum-wage/2016/01/29/1112cdcc-c6cb-11e5-a4aa-f258
66ba0dc6_story.html?hpid=hp_local-news_dcelections829pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Judge Halts DC Ballot Measure on Minimum Wage
By Aaron C. Davis, The Washington Post
02 February 16
D.C. judge on Friday halted an effort to let voters decide whether the
city's minimum wage should be increased to $15 per hour, attorneys said.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Maurice A. Ross ruled that the problem wasn't the
measure itself but the body that agreed to let it proceed toward the ballot:
Every member of the D.C. Board of Elections was serving past their appointed
terms last year when they considered the issue. That, the judge found,
invalidated their decision.
Business groups that oppose a wage hike and have warned it would put the
District at a competitive disadvantage regionally applauded the judge's
ruling. After several previous attempts to derail the effort failed,
attorneys for former D.C. Chamber of Commerce president Harry Wingo on
Friday won essentially by arguing that the D.C. elections board wasn't
empowered to make any legal decisions.
For that, the judge's ruling may have implications beyond the minimum-wage
issue, even threatening a wave of follow-up lawsuits over the validity of
other elections over the past four years. That's because the elections board
has been operating with at least two of its three members serving on expired
terms since 2012.
So if the board couldn't make a legally binding decision during any of that
time: Is Muriel E. Bowser really the mayor? Did voters actually legalize
marijuana possession in 2014? Was Marion Barry's successor to the D.C.
Council lawfully elected last year?
Ross ruled from the bench Friday and told attorneys that a written order,
which is expected to define the scope of the decision, would come early next
week.
Elected leaders and government attorneys past and president on Friday rushed
to push back on the idea that the ruling could lead to widespread political
chaos.
But for at least a day, it made for odd bedfellows defending the validity of
recent elections and vowing to join forces in appealing Ross's ruling.
Former mayor Vincent C. Gray, who lost to Bowser during the 2014 Democratic
primary - and who left the board members in question seated past their terms
- said he would not question the outcome of his failed election to Bowser.
Organizers of the minimum-wage measure, who were most acutely affected by
Friday's ruling, said they hoped it would draw interest from Bowser and
others who have been lukewarm to the proposed minimum-wage increase.
"It goes to show that the chamber's business interests are willing to burn
the city down just to suppress the wages of workers," said Delvone Michael,
director of the D.C. chapter of the Working Families Party, part of a group
of labor unions and other progressive groups backing the measure.
Organizers of the measure have hoped to make the $15 minimum-wage fight a
backdrop to the presidential race in November.
Gray said he had been advised as mayor that an elections board member could
serve indefinitely, until a successor was confirmed by the council. He noted
that he had filled 900 vacancies on boards and commissions, and dissolved
more than 30 others, and had a team that had been attentive to keeping the
jobs filled.
"I'm not going to challenge an election on the basis of that," Gray said.
"There are other reasons why I think there might cause for a do-over [with
Bowser], but it's not attributable to this."
Asked if the mayor was the mayor, Bowser spokesman Michael Czin said,
"Seriously?" He added, "Once the order comes down, our legal team will
review it."
At issue in the case is contradictory language about whether a statute in
the District's Home Rule Act or a subsequent law that specified time
restrictions for appointing city board and commission members is the
controlling law.
It has been conventional wisdom in D.C. government headquarters that the
Home Rule Act is the guiding law. Ross suggested Friday that the subsequent
law that limits board members to serving 180 days past the end of their term
applies, attorneys said.
No matter the reasoning, Wingo, the former chamber president, said he was
pleased with the decision.
"We were always focused on the minimum wage and that it could put D.C. at a
competitive disadvantage. This was about a process, and a specific process,"
he said.
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http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
