During his State of the City address, Mayor Larry Agran explained what he meant when he described Irvine’s goal to become the Smartest City in America: “I am referring to our City government, and the smart policies, programs, best practices, and overall organization, professionalism, and high performance of our workforce.”
Agran continued: “During this past year, the City of Irvine — with approximately 1,500 City workers — once again ranked among the Top 20 Best Places to Work in all of Orange County. Having a highly educated, highly trained, high-performing professional workforce costs money. This past year, we raised the minimum hourly wage for our lowest-paid part-time and seasonal employees, as well as for contract workers such as landscape workers and janitorial staff. The state minimum wage is $17 per hour. Our City’s minimum wage — we call it a Living Wage — is now $20 per hour for part-time employees and $25 per hour for full-time workers.”
The Mayor explained that the wage increase is part of a plan “to make sure that our City employees — those who work in offices here at City Hall, as well as those working in our streets, parks, and City facilities throughout town — earn sufficient household income to live in Irvine and work here, to be part of our community, and to enjoy the high quality of life they help provide for the rest of us.”…