Lisa Vanderpump Trashed For Arguing Against Raising West Hollywood's Minimum Wage, Multimillionaire Says It Would Be 'Counterproductive'
Nov. 4 2021, Published 2:38 p.m. ET
West Hollywood's city council voted Wednesday night to raise its minimum wage from $13 and $14 an hour (depending on the number of employees each business has) to $17.64 an hour – a motion to which Lisa Vanderpump was opposed.
Despite LVP's vocalized feelings on the matter, the vote passed unanimously overnight. Once it goes into effect (Jan. 1 for hotel workers and July 1 for all other workers), the lively Southern California city will have the highest minimum wage in the country.
Many who work in the restaurant/nightclub-heavy area are thrilled. As WeHo resident Taye Baldinazzo told ABC, he is "very much in favor of raising the minimum wage" because he's had "parents who work low-income jobs," so he understands "that kind of struggle."
"I just think everyone deserves to be able to live a normal lifestyle here," he argued, echoing the sentiments of the WeHo ordinance, which stated that raising the minimum wage would "keep workers and their families out of poverty" and "enable workers to meet basic needs and avoid economic hardship."
And even with the substantial bump, a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology revealed that $17.64 an hour still falls short of the amount necessary to live in Los Angeles, which researchers believe to be $19.35 an hour.
"I have some friends that work 17-an-hour jobs in some other places, and they're still struggling," WeHo employee Matthew Hendrickson told ABC. "So, I mean, I guess it's a good start, but I think we can do a little better."
Many local business owners, however, are not in favor of cutting their staffers bigger checks because they say they are still making up on back rent from the pandemic-induced shutdowns and restrictive mandates.
While there is no denying Vanderpump has worked her posterior off to get to where she is today, it seems she may have forgotten her roots.
During Wednesday's meeting, the former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, who – along with her husband, Ken Todd, operates numerous successful eateries and bars (mostly in WeHo) – argued against the motion.
"I just implore you to really give this a lot of thought," the multimillionaire told the council, "because I do believe if we raise the minimum wage now, it's going to be counterproductive."