Voters Reject Charter City Plan
Rancho Palos Verdes Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Charter City Plan Protect Prevailing Wage
March 16, 2011 - By an overwhelming margin of 72 to 28 percent, voters in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles County have rejected a ballot measure to convert from a general law to a charter city, a move that would have enabled city officials to slash the wages of workers on city construction projects by exempting themselves from state prevailing wage requirements.
The huge defeat for the anti-worker forces came after an aggressive campaign by the Los Angeles and Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council. The council mailed flyers to city voters noting the criminal abuses by city officials in Bell after that city became a charter city, and urging voters to "keep Rancho Palos Verdes beautiful and prosperous."
The L.A./Orange County Building Trades was a visible presence in the media during the campaign. "The premise that you save money by cutting working wages is false on its face," council executive secretary Richard Slawson said in a story in the local newspaper shortly before the election. That message obviously resonated with the voters.
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