Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti announced a new minimum wage plan Monday at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park in South L.A., focusing on an increase from the current $9 per hour to $13.25 by 2017. It was, of course, Labor Day – the most practical time for a strong statement on economic polices in a city where 27 percent of the population lives below the poverty line and 40 percent of families either make wages at a poverty level or are unemployed.

The cost of living in Los Angeles is an additional factor that puts pressure on low-income households. 

“If you work hard, you shouldn’t be in poverty,” Garcetti said.

There was nothing but support for the plan in L.A. Council District 15, home to councilman Joe Buscaino, whom Garcetti introduced as a “…champion, not just here locally in his district but citywide as well.” 

For Buscaino, his experience with the LAPD gave him firsthand knowledge of the poverty many face in Los Angeles. “I’ve seen the despicable choices poverty [forces] on people,” he said. “Simply put, when workers receive additional income their spending stimulates growth in our local economy.”

He went on to say that the proposed rise in minimum wage will “create tens of thousands of new jobs because of an increase in demand for goods from the people who [could] now afford to buy the things that many of us take for granted.”

Many minimum wage workers from District 15 were on hand to show their support for Buscaino and the cause, including Juan Martinez, 26, a mechanic at Oasis Autobody Shop located in Watts. 

“I just think that the money we get right now isn’t enough to get by on its own,” he said. ‘It costs so much just to have basic things that everyone…has a right to.” 

Martinez added that he does not believe a raise in the minimum wage would force businesses out of his community.

“It won’t push customers away just to pay a few extra dollars for this or that service,” he said.

Mike Cardinal, a 28-year-old Game Stop employee from Lynwood, agreed. 

“We’re talking mostly about businesses that serve their local communities,” he said. “If regular people here are making more money, they’re going to reinvest it into the same local businesses that have to pay slightly more to keep them.” 

Cardinal added, “…that seems like a definite win-win to me,” echoing the words of both Buscaino and Mayor Garcetti.

Still, as a recent UCLA study shows, Los Angeles residents face a higher rent burden than the rest of the country and the issue is both dominant and far from new. Unsurprisingly, affordability affects the poorest 20 percent and has been doing so “severely…since the 1970s.”

“I work a night job sometimes…just so I can keep up on rent and utilities payments,” Martinez said. “It can be harder at certain times than others for sure though. But my wife and I always have a plan ready if either of us loses our job. We have two kids to take care of as well.”

A recent U.C. Berkeley study found that about 567,000 would see a pay raise in Los Angeles, amounting to a nearly $2 billion increase in total earnings. That could be a significant bolster to areas such as Watts that are traditionally lower income. It’s no wonder Garcetti’s plan is earning nothing but praise in District 15. 

Buscaino ended his rally speech to a cheering crowd with a confident statement about the prospect of wage increases. 

“Do the math…we’re going to raise the wage in the city of Los Angeles! Yes we can. Si se puede.”

Reach Staff Reporter Jordan Plaut here. You can also follow him on Twitter.