Tacoma small business owners launch $12 for Tacoma campaign

Measure 1B is the reasonable way to raise the city’s minimum wage

TACOMA – The drive to address income inequality with a wage increase that works for Tacoma began today with the official launch of the $12 for Tacoma campaign.

Small business owners Don Hansen and Kevin Hayes are co-chairing the campaign in support of Measure 1B, which is on the Nov. 3 ballot and would increase the city’s minimum wage to $12.  The measure, put on the ballot by the Tacoma City Council, would boost the wages of minimum wage workers by 27 percent and also require that the city’s minimum wage go up in each future year based on the state’s cost of living.

Measure 1B makes more sense for Tacoma than another minimum wage measure on this fall’s ballot that is too extreme for the city. 

“For far too long, the highest incomes in Washington have gone up at a faster rate than the city’s lowest-wage workers,” said Don Hansen, $12 for Tacoma co-chair and president and owner of Cascade Park Communities, which operates three senior care facilities in Tacoma.  “Measure 1B not only takes a huge step in addressing this income inequality and improving workers’ lives, but is the reasonable solution that fits Tacoma.”  

Unlike the competing measure, Measure 1B provides a wage increase that works for Tacoma and also phases in the wage increase over two years, giving businesses time to adjust.

Don Hansen’s three senior care facilities – Cascade Park Gardens, which provides memory care, Cascade Park Vista, for assisted living, and Cascade Park Active Day, which provides adult day health care – mostly serve patients on Medicaid, keeping the businesses’ revenue at a fixed rate.  His company employs 120 people.

“Choosing Measure 1B on the Nov. 3 ballot is the responsible choice for Tacoma,” Hansen said.  “The measure provides a  significant wage increase but is not so extreme that it would force layoffs or result in companies like mine having to serve fewer customers.”

Unlike the competing measure, which was pushed by a group of activists, Measure 1B is a fair and reasonable solution that is supported by a coalition of local business and community leaders and put on the ballot by the Tacoma City Council.

Co-chairing the $12 for Tacoma campaign with Hansen is Kevin Hayes, founder and principal of Tacoma Marketing Group.  Hayes’ firm specializes in strategic marketing, brand development, SaaS (software as a service) and website design.

“Measure 1B was designed from the ground up with Tacoma’s needs in mind,” Hayes said.  “Part of the $12 for Tacoma campaign is making sure voters realize the critical choice they have between two minimum wage measures in November, and making sure they make the right choice – Measure 1B.”

“Small businesses are the backbone of our city’s economy,” Hayes added.  “Measure 1B is the best choice to address income inequality while still enabling Tacoma businesses to remain competitive with businesses outside the city that are subject only to the state’s minimum wage.”

The $12 for Tacoma campaign’s website (12forTacoma.com), unveiled today, includes a graphic showing how voters should mark their ballot, which includes two questions about the minimum wage.  In the first question on the ballot, voters should check “yes” that they support an increase in the minimum wage.  In the second question on the ballot, they should check the box for Initiative Measure No. 1B, and not the competing measure, Initiative Measure No. 1.  Voters are allowed to choose only one measure.

“It’s an important distinction, and voters should remember that ‘B’ is best,” Hayes said.  “Measure 1B is the fair compromise and rational choice that’s right for Tacoma and our local economy.”