The First Sign

JULY 29, 2010 E-MAIL THIS PRINTER FRIENDLY

Baltimore just narrowly avoided passage of a living wage bill that would have ratcheted up the wage for retail employees in the city to nearly $11 an hour. The councilwoman behind the bill, Mary Pat Clarke, is still pushing for a second “shot at the title.” Meanwhile, there’s already talk of a $65 million retail development evaporating from the Baltimore area if the bill goes through.

What would supporters of the living wage bill, whose refrain these past few weeks was something along the lines of “paying fair wages won’t cause retailers to leave the city,” say about that? Isn’t this concrete proof to the contrary?

This is the attitude that Maryland politicians have been guilty of for far too long. They raise taxes, impose restrictions, and generally meddle in the marketplace to their hearts content, feeling secure that businesses and individuals won’t leave because of the amount of work and money it takes to relocate. They rely on inertia to keep people in place while they are in office and ignore the long-term consequences of their actions.

Unfortunately for all of us still in the state of Maryland, and especially for those of us still in Baltimore City, that attitude has been bearing its bitter fruit for quite some time now. Businesses have been leaving, taking much-needed jobs with them, along with the people who can afford to move elsewhere. And so the city decays and the population shrinks.

Now, instead of trying to make Baltimore into a place that would welcome new businesses we seem to be doing everything we can to keep them away. Well-meaning politicians such as Clarke seem to be doing so unintentionally, but this is not Christmas and it’s not the thought that counts. It’s the results. If new businesses don’t arrive with new jobs, and if existing businesses can’t afford to keep the ones they have, then we will continue on our downward spiral towards becoming another Detroit.

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