Mike Bonin, 11th District Council member, joins Mayor Garcetti in support of the minimum wage raise. (Yingzhi Yang/Neon Tommy)

Hiking the hourly pay from $9 to $13.25 by 2017, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s new minimum wage proposal has brought about smiles and sweats in Pacific Palisades.

"The Village" in L.A.'s Council District 11, also known as the hub of Pacific Palisades, serve as the stomping grounds for many small business owners and low-wage workers.

One individual who has emerged in the push for higher wages is the district's City Council representative Mike Bonin, who aims to increase hotel workers' wages to $15.37.

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“Today, people in Los Angeles work full-time and still do not have the money they need to pay for their basic needs, today that is not right and tomorrow that’s gonna change,” said Bonin, quoting a study that indicates benefits of a wage raise to the greater economy.

Alice Stanford, a banquet server at the JW Marriott hotel, says she often has to decide between paying her rent or buying food. (Yingzhi Yang/Neon Tommy)

“Hotel workers do a lot of hard works, cleaning the room, cleaning the toilets, wiping the floor, so they deserve a better pay,” added Derrick Smith, director of a hotel worker union. 

After fracturing her toes in a work injury, she says, she was forced to take leave for six weeks. Alice Stanford, 44, has worked as a banquet server for the JW Marriott hotel for four years. Earning $9 an hour has made an impact on her self-confidence, Stanford said. “It would be a dramatic change... [I'm] very grateful that they are considering doing this."

She is currently fighting for the company to cover the costs, arguing that she had done nothing after work, and therefore couldn't think of any other factors that would have caused the injury of her toes. “With little money saved,” said Stanford, “you have to decide whether to pay the rent or buy food.”

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Having been out of work for this long means she also can't afford to get her car's transmission fixed, she said.

David Liang, 67, has owned the Chinese restaurant Cathay Palisade, for 15 years, during which he has seen several incremental minimum wage hikes, from $6.25 to $9.

“Every time the minimum wage was raised, it was a hard time for my restaurant,” Liang, looking around the empty restaurant.

David Liang, owner of a Chinese restaurant in the Pacific Palisades, points to a Labor Law poster. (Yingzhi Yang/Neon Tommy)

When the wage was raised to $9 in July, he took considerable cuts to his profit margin, he said, but managed to sustain the business.

Because of tips, Liang doesn't think a minimum wage raise for his waitstaff is necessary. “It’s okay to raise money for people who only earn $9 an hour, but they should set standards who is qualified and who is not to receive minimum wage," he said.

Across the street, Rocio Olivira walks out of a Starbucks carrying a cup of coffee. 

Miguel Hernan is a waiter at a coffee shop in the Pacific Palisades. "Today, you can't do a lot of things with $9," he said. (Yingzhi Yang/Neon Tommy)

“Raise the minimum wage enable people to take good care of their family,” said Olivira, who manages the Starbucks branch. Her own pay has remained steady, despite a hike on July 1 for baristas from $8 to $9. 

So far, Olivira said, the money has not been enough to support her family, including putting her child through college.

“Today, you can’t do a lot of things with $9,” chimed in Miguel Hernan, a waiter of a coffee shop next door to Cathay Palisade.

Hernan wishes the day of the wage hike would come sooner.  “Raising the minimum wage will let me have more time spending with my family instead of doing other two jobs," he said.

Reach Staff Reporter Yingzhi Yang here. Follow her on Twitter here.