LETTERS: PROP A BAD FOR BUSINESS

To the editor:

I do not intend to get into a verbal battle with Nancy Birk over Proposition A. In reply to my letter, she stated that my wife's business would not come under Proposition A. If I read the amendment correctly, Part B of Proposition A would eliminate the $500,000 cap, and it would not matter if you had one employee or 100.

I would remind you that this covers many employers in the state. If Proposition A passes, many of these employers will be gone. Then what will these people do for a living?

I am curious to know if Birk ever ran a small business for a living. If she has, she would know the problems involved. As I stated before, my wife runs a small business. She is involved with it seven days a week, and I know that she does not average making $6.25 an hour. Birk should go out and talk to some employers. She would find that a lot of them are barely getting by.

If Proposition A passes, it will help very few people. People with more skills will take away the jobs from the unskilled. Let's fact facts. Unskilled labor is not in demand. It started to disappear when the cotton picker came along. And there is less demand for it every year. People who are skilled in a trade or machine operation mostly make more than $6.25 an hour now. I just don't see how passing Proposition A will help anybody. I know it will do far more harm than good. Retail prices will have to be raised to offset wage increase, so everybody will have to pay for it down the line.

And, by the way, Birk made the statement that she felt sorry for wife who has to work seven days a week. Well, my wife read Birk's letter in the paper, and she said that Birk doesn't have to feel sorry for her. What she does is the result of drive and determination, and if more people did that, we wouldn't have near the problems we have.

JIM WILHELM

Benton