Los Angeles City Council Chamber Credit: Zach Behrens/KCET

By Dakota Smith, Oct. 21, 2014, Dailynews.com

Presenting a possible curve ball to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s ambitious plan to boost the city’s minimum wage, several City Council members on Tuesday called for another study of the mayor’s proposal and said they want to explore exemptions for some industries.

A motion signed by five council members seeks an independent study of both Garcetti’s plan to raise hourly wages to $13.25 by 2017 and another City Hall proposal to push wages to $15.25 by 2019.

The motion seeks analysis on the two proposals and a wage hike’s impact on local nonprofits and small businesses.

Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, one of the motion’s primary authors, said Tuesday he’s concerned businesses will lay off staff or relocate if the city raises the minimum wage. The councilman discussed the mayor’s proposal with more than 30 business throughout his district, an area that includes Hollywood, Atwater Village and Glassell Park, he said.

“I haven’t talked to one single business owner that has said they wouldn’t have to reduce staff,” O’Farrell said.

Under Garcetti’s plan, the minimum wage would gradually rise to $13.25, which would help lift working families out of poverty and benefit Los Angeles’ overall economy, the Mayor’s Office argues. Garcetti’s proposal relies on analysis from the UC Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, which concluded workers would benefit from a wage hike and the impact on overall employment “is not likely to be significant.”