pay hike (copy)

The move to boost the national minimum wage to $15 an hour has potential benefits and downsides.

Most businesses can pass on to customers the slight increased costs necessary to pay a $15 minimum wage.

Consumer demand for a majority of service-dominant industries is relatively inelastic, when the demand for a product doesn’t change as much as the price. Retail food and merchandise clerks, construction workers, etc., are not going to go away at $15 an hour.

In effect, we would all pay a few pennies more for some services to facilitate a living wage for millions of fellow Americans, alleviating the plight of many of the working poor.

The argument that “jobs will be lost” is a fallacy.

For the few jobs lost, “scarce resources” would be reallocated and new jobs created to replace then.

Is it not reasonable to ask, “What is the true value to society of enterprises that can only survive by paying their employees below subsistence wages?”

RICH BENNETT

Fernandina Street

Mount Pleasant

Holy City planner

The new planning chief for Charleston is coming from Las Vegas’ Sin City to Charleston’s Holy City.

Robert Summerfield will no doubt rely on the invaluable input and experience of Charleston’s planning staff in order to come up to speed on the city’s water woes, affordable housing needs and transportation.

To be sure, he will need more than an open mindset.

No disrespect to Summerfield, but shouldn’t Charlestonians be curious as to the experience proffered by other applicants, if any, for the position?

Whatever happened to the saying “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”?

DENNIS J. DONAHUE JR.

Pelican Reach

Isle of Palms

What's going on?

Maybe I’ve lost my sense of smell, or my nose might be deceiving me.

It’s either that or, based on accounts I’ve read, there’s little surrounding former county attorney Joseph Dawson’s conclusion of his relationship with Charleston County Council that appears to pass the smell test.

The separation contract with then-county attorney Dawson, as reported in the Feb. 26 Post and Courier, along with Chairman Teddie Pryor’s rebuff of Councilman Kylon Middleton’s inquiry regarding how the contract came to be, provide shameful examples of the ways in which secretive behind-the-scenes “wink and nod” actions are a disservice to South Carolinians.

How can it be that such a contract could legitimately escape official County Council review and scrutiny?

We owe a debt of gratitude to The Post and Courier reporters and subscribers, and to Councilman Middleton, that this travesty will now very rightfully become the subject of a federal complaint.

Thank goodness that quality journalism and courageous challenges arm democracies with an antidote to lax government.

PHILIP SNEAD

North Edgewater Drive

Charleston

Access to amenities lost

The proposed extension of the Berlin G. Meyers Parkway is an all-too-typical storyline in an all-too-typical Southern town.

Access to water and other public amenities available to the historically marginalized black community in the Charleston area has steadily been eroding for decades as the flood of affluent mostly white transplants continues to overwhelm the area.

From the peninsula to the Sea Islands and even up to Summerville, generations of black longtime residents suffer from less and less access to water and public recreational areas where they can enjoy the outdoors.

River access, lakes and fishing spots continue to be purchased and deemed off limits by ever-expanding residential subdivisions and commercial developments, a trend that has been silently claiming water access for the wealthy for decades.

Access to the water for non-landowners in the Charleston area has gone from an abundance to a rare commodity.

I’m concerned the Sawmill Branch Trail could follow the same trend as permits for the final leg of the Berlin G. Meyers Parkway are soon to be issued.

This beautiful and functional trail through the heart of Summerville is an absolute gem where residents can escape from the hustle and bustle of city life for a nice walk, jog or bicycle ride next to the canal.

What we need is the Sawmill Branch Trail to stay.

MATT PRIDGEN

Pekoe Court

Summerville

Excellent article

Thank you, Andrew Miller, for the excellent article on Clements Ferry Road in the Feb. 27 Post and Courier.

I would like to see more articles like this that bring Charleston’s amazing history to life.

PAMELA GABRIEL

Springwood Circle

Mount Pleasant

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