NORTHAMPTON – The City Council Committee on Community Resources on Monday will begin deliberating following several public forums on the state of the downtown economy.
The committee in May held its first of four public hearings aimed at collecting testimony from downtown Northampton and Florence stakeholders. Workers, residents and business owners raised concerns including increasing business costs, panhandling and concerns by workers about not being fairly compensated.
Now, the the committee will meet Monday at 4 p.m. in council chambers at the Puchalski Municipal Building to review its findings and begin deliberating. It is tasked with studying issues effecting the city economy in order to come up with measures the City Council could take in order to improve it.
The committee was formed following a report released in March by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Labor Center on downtown Northampton restaurant workers. Among its findings were that three-quarters of 235 workers surveyed by the Pioneer Valley Workers Center made less than $13.18 per hour – a “living wage” high enough to meet a basic standard of living.
Restaurant owners fired back, arguing that the report painted the local industry with a broad brush and failed to recognize those restaurateurs who treat their employees well.