ALASKA: Palo Alto City Council (PACC) approves $11-an-hour wage starting in January 2016 targets $15 by 2018 East Palo Alto Councilman Larry Moody addresses the Palo Alto City Council during the Aug. 24, 2015, hearing on Palo Alto’s new minimum-wage ordinance,Eleven dollars per hour probably isn’t the type of wage that would allow anyone to afford a living in Palo Alto, but the City Council agreed on Monday night that it’s a great place to start.
By a unanimous vote, an enthusiastic council approved an ordinance to institute a local minimum wage of $11 an hour, effective Jan. 1, 2016. For Palo Alto, which has never had a local minimum wage, this move is a significant first step in a multiyear march toward a $15-per-hour wage. The council agreed that this should be the city’s goal, possibly as part of a coordinated effort with neighboring cities.
The council’s vote places Palo Alto in the midst of a regional movement to raise the minimum wage, with Mountain View and Sunnyvale passing their own minimum-wage ordinances last October and San Jose adopting its minimum wage in 2013 through a voter initiative. It also goes further than the other ordinances. Mountain View, Sunnyvale and San Jose currently have a minimum wage of $10.30 an hour, with future increases tied to the consumer price index (CPI).
