Coalition ‘mobilizing’ to meet Aug. 7 deadline.
By: Lea Kahn
A petition that seeks approval of a "living wage and benefits" ordinance, which is aimed at big-box retailers in Lawrence, has fallen short of the 997 signatures needed to require Township Council to act on the ordinance or to place it on the ballot in the Nov. 7 general election.
The Lawrence Living Wage Coalition, which has been circulating the petition, turned in the petition with 1,048 signatures July 10. But a review of the signatures showed 869 valid signatures which means the group must obtain 128 signatures on the petition by Aug. 7, said Municipal Clerk Kathy Norcia.
The petition must be signed by registered voters who live in Lawrence. Ms. Norcia’s review of the petition signatories revealed that 179 people either signed the petition more than once, or were not registered voters in Lawrence.
Carol Lerner, who is a member of the Lawrence Living Wage Coalition, said the group is "mobilizing" to obtain 200 signatures by the Aug. 7 deadline. She said she was not surprised that the group fell short of obtaining 997 valid signatures.
Once the Lawrence Living Wage Coalition provides Ms. Norcia with the additional signatures, the municipal clerk has five days to verify the new signatures. If the petition contains the needed 997 signatures, it will be presented to Township Council.
Township Council has 20 days to introduce and adopt the proposed ordinance. The ordinance likely would be presented to Township Council at its Aug. 15 meeting, Ms. Norcia said.
If the council does not approve the ordinance, then it would be placed on the Nov. 7 general election ballot for a public vote. Ms. Norcia must contact the Mercer County clerk’s office by Sept. 8 to place the proposed ordinance on the Nov. 7 ballot.
The proposed ordinance targets Wal-Mart, which is seeking township planners’ approval to build a 148,233-square-foot store on a 23.5-acre site at 1060-1100 Spruce St. Two used-car dealerships currently occupy the site.
The ordinance would apply to large retailers whose parent company grosses annual revenues of $1 billion or more, and that operates any store in Lawrence that exceeds 100,000 square feet.
Retailers affected by the ordinance would have to pay employees at least $11.08 per hour and a benefit rate of not less than $3.50 per hour with annual cost-of-living adjustments for both rates.
The petition grew out of LET’s Stop Wal-Mart’s efforts to have Township Council adopt a living-wage ordinance. The anti-Wal-Mart group, which consists of residents of Lawrence, Ewing and Trenton, approached Township Council twice for its approval of the ordinance. Both times, the council declined to act.
Ms. Lerner, who belongs to LET’s Stop Wal-Mart and the Lawrence Living Wage Coalition, said that if a large retailer wants to locate in Lawrence, it should pay the employees a wage "that begins to allow them to live decently."
A wage and benefits package should meet employees’ basic needs including health benefits so they won’t have to rely on Medicaid or other forms of public assistance, Ms. Lerner said.