The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce has surprised Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and common council members by launching a $15,000 radio ad campaign opposing the potential city minimum wage increase.
Mayoral spokesperson Melanie Conklin said she finds the radio campaign not to be a referendum, because the City Council vote is scheduled for March 30.
\I don't know who they're trying to target their ads at, because 13,000 people in our community signed a petition saying they wanted to raise minimum wage. I's clearly a very popular concept,"" she said.
Chamber President Jennifer Alexander said the goal of the advertisements is to create greater awareness of the impact the ordinance would have on small businesses. She said if the ordinance goes through, it could lead to higher prices and job cuts.
""The chamber has really deep pockets and I'm not shocked that they could come up with $15,000 to blow on a public relations campaign against the minimum wage ordinance,"" said Ald. Austin King, District 8. ""It's not going to do anything ... if anything it has angered council members, and probably angered a lot of their members who see them wasting all of their money.""
Cieslewicz said in a letter to Alexander that the chamber had asked for a delay for a scheduled vote on the proposal to work on issues in the ordinance.
""[The mayor] was upset and the reason is that he felt the chamber asked us to delay the vote at our last meeting because they wanted to work with us and the alders on the ordinance,"" Conklin said. ""When we asked them to work with us they said 'no, our position remains a staunch no.'""
Alexander said she is surprised the mayor feels blindsided because the chamber has always been opposed.
""We're both trying to best serve our constituents,"" she said.
Conklin said she knows small businesses are worried about the ordinance. For this reason, she said, the ordinance includes a slow phase-in process for businesses with 15 full time workers or fewer, giving them until 2008 to institute the $7.75 minimum wage.
