San Diego is an incredible place to live, work, and visit. We have a world-class tourism economy, a vibrant downtown, and neighborhoods that are as diverse as they are dynamic. But for far too long, our city has also grappled with a significant challenge: a cost of living that makes it difficult for many families to thrive. Housing, utilities, and transportation all come at a premium, and every San Diegan feels the strain.
It is in this context that the proposal to raise the minimum wage for hospitality workers, event venue staff, and restaurant employees to a staggering $25 per hour has been presented as a solution. While the intentions behind this proposal may be noble, it is a shortsighted policy that will do nothing to solve our affordability crisis. In fact, it will only make it worse — not just for businesses, but for every single person who calls San Diego home.
The advocates of this measure frame it as a targeted fix, a way to ensure that a specific group of workers can afford to live here. But what they fail to acknowledge is the fundamental economic reality that will follow: these costs won’t stay contained within the hospitality sector. They will be passed directly on to consumers placing a new and unsustainable burden on all of us…