L.A. Based "Raise the Wage Coalition" Says It Plans To Mobilize 100+ For Today's (Aug. 11) Council Item re Minimum Wage; Last Night's Belmont Shore Business Ass'n Meeting To Respond To Council Move Draws About 40 Business Owners/Operators

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L.A. Based "Raise the Wage Coalition" Says It Plans To Mobilize 100+ For Today's (Aug. 11) Council Item re Minimum Wage [UPDATE] See Group's Website Listing Of The Coalition [END UPDATE]; Last Night's Belmont Shore Business Ass'n Meeting To Respond To Council Move Draws About 40 Business Owners/Operators

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(Aug. 11, 2015, updated) -- LBREPORT.com has learned that the "Raise the Wage Coalition," a Los Angeles based group, says it plans to "mobilize over 100 for first LB Minimum Wage hearing" to attend today's (Aug. 11) City Council meeting regarding a Long Beach minimum wage.

"Over 100 workers and community members plan to mobilize and speak out for increasing the minimum wage to $15/hour, wage theft enforcement protections, and paid sick days in Long Beach," says the group's release at early morning today (Aug. 11.)

A link on the group's website ("about us") doesn't identify who leads the group but says their page is paid by "a coalition of organizations representing working men and women. 777 South Figueroa St., Ste. 4050, Los Angeles, CA 90017." A link on its website titled "The Coalition" lists the following groups.

Meanwhile, roughly 40 mainly small-medium size business owners/operators attended a meeting last night (Aug. 10) of the Belmont Shore Business Association to discuss a response(s) to the developing City Council action (details below)...which follows voted actions by the the Los Angeles City Council (14-1, Englander dissenting) and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors (3-2, Knabe and Antonovich dissenting) to adopt escalating minimum wages reaching $15/hr by roughly 2020.

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As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, the agendized item by Council reps Lowenthal, Gonzalez, Richardson and Andrews seeks "a report from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) regarding 1) the feasibility of and potential benefits and risks of implementing a citywide minimum wage in Long Beach; and 2) proposals for incentives, tax breaks, fee reductions and/or process improvements to assist businesses and non-profit organizations in complying with a higher minimum wage; and to work with the City's Economic Development Commission to take public input and review the study's findings and make recommendations to the City Council."

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The Councilmembers' agendizing memo says the LAEDC report "should include data and survey work about the minimum wage and possible incentives for businesses. If a minimum wage increase is to be considered, incentives for businesses and or non-profits in the city should also be considered and discussed." The agendizers propose to spend up to $65,000 for the LAEDC study using one-time funds "from a source to be identified by the City Manager." To view their full agendizing memo, click here.

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Two of the agendizers (Gonzalez, Richardson) were elected with the support of organized labor in 2014; co-agendizer Dee Andrews (who faced no ballot opponent in 2012) has announced he will seek a third-term in 2016 using LB's term-limit bypass write-in procedure; primary agendizer Lowenthal says she won't seek a third Council term and hasn't announced future political plans.