EDITORIAL: Widening gap
MARCH 23, 2005
Sonoma West Times and News

A new report on Sonoma County's economic growth during the past 20 years and the effect on low-income residents paints an alarming picture of who has reaped the benefits of the county's prosperity.

The report's findings show an "hourglass economy" that has created jobs at the top and the bottom of the wage scale, but not a lot in the middle. During the 1990s, the wages of the top one-fifth of the workforce increased by 24 percent while the bottom one-fifth saw wages increase by just 4 percent.

The report, titled "The Limits of Prosperity," was issued earlier this month by a nonprofit research group, New Economy, Working Solutions (NEWS). The report paints a bleak picture of the creation of a "minority underclass" that is composed mostly of Latinos, with the brunt of the economic inequality being borne by women and minorities. And it projects that economic growth in the future is likely to worsen income inequality and poverty.

The NEWS report provides the basis for serious policy discussions among community leaders and elected officials. "Our purpose is to sound the alarm with this report," said Marty Bennett, board chair of NEWS. "There is nothing inevitable about the continued growth of the hourglass economy ... it awaits the political will and the political muscle to implement reforms that can put us on the high road."

Does the political will exist in city and county governments to implement the reforms that over the long run can have an effect on reducing poverty and creating more equal opportunities for low-income workers and their families? Can elected officials confront the economic and social realities of a growing minority underclass, and its related impacts and costs?

The local level is where the changes must start. One idea is the Community Impact Report, akin to an Environmental Impact Report, which analyzes the social and economic impacts of development, such as a new Wal-Mart store in Santa Rosa for example. And local governments can use redevelopment funds, as some already do, to stimulate good jobs and subsidize housing. Another idea is the jobs-housing linkage fee that requires commercial development to help underwrite housing costs. Some communities have considered living-wage ordinances, establishing their own minimum wages that are more in line with the local cost of living.

The growing income gap in Sonoma County is not an inevitable consequence of economic success. Prosperity can and should be shared more equally by those who contribute to local economic success, including low and high wage workers, women and minorities. Local government and community leaders must seriously consider the economic and social reforms suggested in the NEWS report, reforms that can narrow the income gap in our county.



- B.W.D.