Lawrence Living Wage Coalition
Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648
http://www.njlivingwagecoalition.org

August 23, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nicole Plett, 609-771-1665 - nbplett@yahoo.com
 or Edith Pike, 609-883-1428.

            Supporters of a successful petition drive to put a “Large Retail Living Wage and Benefits Ordinance” on the Lawrence Township ballot in November are working toward a large turnout for the Lawrence Township Council meeting of September 5, 2006. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Lawrence Municipal Building. This will be the first opportunity for supporters of the proposed ordinance to express their frustrations about the council’s efforts to prevent the ordinance from being placed on the ballot and, thereby, denying Lawrence voters the opportunity to exercise their right to vote on a crucial issue.

            Rather than the Township Council members voting to place the ordinance on the November 7 ballot at its August 15 meeting, the council members tabled action on the proposed ordinance. The Committee of Ordinance Petitioners was served with papers on August 21, initiating legal proceedings against them, and seeking an injunction against placing the ordinance on the ballot on the grounds that a minimum wage ordinance may be illegal under New Jersey State law.

            According to Falk Engel, attorney for the petitioners, Mayor Michael Powers and Township Council members may have already violated New Jersey’s Faulkner Act because the act required a first reading of the proposed ordinance at the council’s August 15 meeting.

        Although a total of 1,054 signatures of registered Lawrenceville voters who favor placing this ordinance on the ballot were verified by Municipal Clerk Kathleen Norcia, Township Attorney Kevin Nerwinski advised the council to table consideration of the ordinance and seek opinions from the courts, the State Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey about the legality of the proposed ordinance. In a tactic that shocked many who attended the August 15 meeting, the public was not allowed to speak during the public portion of meeting. The public was also denied the right to speak when the ordinance came up on the agenda, as had been expected by audience members who had signed the ordinance petition.

            “This is shameful,” commented Edith Pike, a member of the Committee of Ordinance Petitioners. “The council and Attorney Nerwinski seem more interested in representing big corporate interests than the interests of Lawrence citizens and retail workers struggling to make ends meet.

            “While council members have tried to pass off their concerns as trying to protect Lawrence taxpayers from the expense of litigation by big box stores, they have clearly shown this to be disingenuous. We now face a situation where the township is initiating litigation and incurring unnecessary legal expenses to try to stop a completely legal, voter-led initiative and referendum,” Pike added.

            Members of the Lawrence Living Wage Coalition believe their successful petition drive has made their small, Central Jersey, suburban township a test case for fair wage reform throughout the State of New Jersey and possibly the region. Members of the press are urged to attend and cover the September 5 council meeting. For more information, please contact members of the Lawrence Living Wage Coalition, Nicole Plett or Edith Pike.