BY MARK MITCHELL
Los Alamos

I recently read a thought-provoking letter in the Los Alamos Daily Post by TJ Taub (https://ladailypost.com/op-ed-democrats-what-is-your-platform/) asking local Democrats what is your platform? In it, she claims that our politics have degenerated and warped into two views. According to Taub, the Republican view can be summarized as “Democrats are evil, and we are here to save you,” and the Democrat view can be summarized as “we are not ‘them,’ send money.” My claim is that it is much worse than that, as I will explain.

According to the local Democratic Party (https://www.losalamosdemocrats.org/), their party platform (is crystal clear in that it states that:

“Every American, especially people of color, women, and other marginalized communities, has the right to a job that provides for adequate food, housing, clothing, health care, recreation, and protection from the economic fears of old age, illness, or accidents.

It goes on to state that they affirm that:

“All jobs must pay a living wage.”

As a reminder, affirm means to state, assert, or maintain something as true in a confident, solemn way. Now, on February 6, 2024, the Los Alamos County Council considered raising the local minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. However, a motion to implement this rise incrementally over time was defeated 4 to 3. The four county council members that voted against raising the minimum wage were Theresa Cull (D), Melanee Hand (D), Keith Lepsch (D), and David Reagor (R).

At that time, a person working full time and making $15.00 per hour would not have been making a living wage as was documented in the MIT living wage calculator for Los Alamos County.

At the time of this writing, the MIT living wage calculator (https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/35028) lists the minimum living wage of a single wage earner in Los Alamos County having no children as being $25.29 per hour. Also according to this calculator, the living wage of a two wage earner family in Los Alamos County having no children is $17.37 ($34.74/2) per hour, with both members working. This rate is lower than that for a single wage earner due in part to the fact that the expense of housing is shared by two individuals.

Councilors Cull and Hand are running for reelection to the county council as Democrats. If you agree with the Democratic Party Platform, that all jobs must pay a living wage, I ask that you please don’t vote to reelect Councilor Cull or Hand. Instead, consider voting for Democrats Joseph Granville, and/or Steven Lynne. I do not know their stance on a local minimum wage increase, but we know Councilor Cull’s and Hand’s. If you are curious, I intentionally left out recommending a vote for David Hampton. He too is running for county council as a Democrat. Why I did this is because one day he came to our door in order to introduce himself. My wife asked him what his views were on raising the local minimum wage, and he said that he was against it, even after acknowledging that this is prominently in the Democratic Party Platform.

So, don’t just vote blue no matter who. Hold these people accountable. Unfortunately, most of the Democrats running for County Council are “them.”