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Two committees of the County Legislature have agreed that the County should proceed with an examination of the County’s Livable Wage policy.

The Legislature’s Budget, Capital, and Personnel Committee, meeting Monday, and its Government Operations Committee, meeting today, both approved moving ahead with the review, according to an approach recommended by County Administrator Joe Mareane, first presented to the committees last month.

The aim is to undertake a thorough review of the County’s Livable Wage Policy, adopted a decade ago, through a small County work group that will focus on the issue, with the intent of achieving a workable policy that clearly reflects the values and intent of the Legislature.  While the County is a certified Living Wage Employer, recent questions regarding wage levels paid under a County contract sparked discussion regarding how it is implemented and how it might be strengthened.

While made up of County legislators and staff, Administrator Mareane said the group will engage in a very open process, encouraging those outside county government to provide input on the issue.  Legislator Dooley Kiefer today asked that the group be expanded to include non-voting seats representing other entities, such as the Tompkins County Workers Center, but that proposal failed to win committee support.

Mareane cautioned the committees that the examination process will not be easy, and that there will be challenges, as the group examines the complex nature of this issue to achieve comprehensive and consistent implementation of the policy.

Budget chair Jim Dennis remarked that the public needs to be informed about the implications of the Living Wage agreement, and Legislator Nathan Shinagawa said he welcomes the opportunity for a community conversation on the issue, including whether taxpayers are willing to pay more in certain cases to achieve this ideal.  Legislator Mike Lane today observed that one of the challenges will be how best to solicit comments from various groups, including small businesses interested in bidding on contracts.

The administrator said he expects four or five meetings of the work group will be needed to complete the task, a process expected to take two to three months.

In other action today, the Government Operations Committee joined the Capital Plan Review Committee in recommending that the Legislature rename the building currently known as the “Old Courthouse,” soon to become the new home of the County Legislature, as the “Governor Daniel D. Tompkins Building.”  Governor Tompkins served as a State Assemblyman, as New York’s Governor from 1807-1817, then as Vice President of the United States.  County Historian Carol Kammen today presented the committee with a lithograph of Governor Tompkins, in anticipation of the Legislature’s action.

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