Higher minimum wage wins with big support in SF and Oakland

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee speaks to attendees at a Propositions A, C, J, K and I watch party at the Julia Morgan Ballroom. “We are now going to be the light for the rest of the country to lead the way on a real, true minimum wage,” Lee said. less San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee speaks to attendees at a Propositions A, C, J, K and I watch party at the Julia Morgan Ballroom. “We are now going to be the light for the rest of the country to lead the way on a ... more Photo: Pete Kiehart / The Chronicle Photo: Pete Kiehart / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Higher minimum wage wins with big support in SF and Oakland 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

San Francisco voters, keenly aware of the rising cost of living in one of the most expensive cities in the nation, voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Nearly complete returns showed San Francisco’s Proposition J cruising to victory with more than two-thirds support. With almost 98 percent of precincts reporting, the measure had more than 76 percent support.

The consensus measure faced no mobilized opposition or spending against it. It would make San Francisco the second city in the nation after Seattle to raise its minimum wage to $15 amid a national conversation about the widening gulf between the rich and poor.

A similar ballot measure in Oakland had an even wider lead with almost half of the votes counted. It had 80 percent support with 44 percent of precincts reporting.Measure FF would raise Oakland’s minimum wage from $9 to $12.25 starting in March. Both measures need only a simple majority to pass.

Labor leaders hope to use momentum from the two Bay Area elections and other progress in the region and around the country to generate support for raising the minimum wage in other cities, statewide and then other states, like Oregon, Nevada and Massachusetts.

“Think of it as 'The California Model,’” said Shum Preston, a spokesman for the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which was a driving force behind both wage measures before voters.

“These ballot initiatives are the right issue at the right time,” Preston said. “This is a strong example of the traditional progressive left in the Bay Area not only being relevant, but driving a national agenda.”

The issue was also championed by San Francisco’s more moderate and business-friendly mayor, Ed Lee. In nearly four years in office, Lee has embraced technology companies and relentlessly pushed a job creation agenda but now presides over a city that a Brookings Institution report in March found has the fastest-growing gap between the rich and poor.

“To me, it’s a bit personal,” said Lee, who washed dishes in his family's Seattle restaurant growing up. “I know what (low-wage workers) are going through. I’ve washed those dishes. ... We are now going to be the light for the rest of the country to lead the way on a real, true minimum wage.”

Prop. J would gradually raise the minimum wage from the current $10.74 an hour to $15 by July 2018, boosting the paychecks of at least 60,000 restaurant, retail and other minimum-wage workers by $75 to $197 a week, according to an analysis by the San Francisco controller’s office.

Prop. J gets to $15 faster than Seattle’s law, which phases it in over seven years for small businesses. It also does not have an exemption like Seattle’s law to count tips toward the minimum wage. Prop J. covers nearly all workers in the city, exempting only youths under 18 in government-subsidized training programs or people over 55 at some government-subsidized nonprofits. That makes it more comprehensive than a requirement the Los Angeles City Council approved in September to pay workers at large hotels $15.37 an hour.

The measure is a compromise that Lee brokered between business interests, nonprofits, the SEIU and others. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to place Prop. J on the ballot. Oakland’s Measure FF was put on the ballot by the SEIU and its allies through a petition drive.

Despite misgivings, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, the restaurant industry advocacy group, is officially neutral on Prop. J, as is the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. The San Francisco Council of District Merchants Associations opposed the measure but didn’t spend any money or campaign against it.

Despite the lack of opposition, plenty of cash flowed to at least four campaign committees supporting Prop. J, which some analysts said was being used as a promotional vehicle for other political goals.

Wealthy tech investor Ron Conway, one of Lee’s biggest political backers, chipped in $124,000, campaign finance records show. Conway is an investor in short-term rental site Airbnb and ride service Uber, companies that have benefited from Lee’s embrace of tech firms.

The San Francisco Police Officers Association kicked in $143,500. Embattled utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co. contributed $105,000 to a campaign committee backing all five of Lee’s ballot priorities, including Prop. J. Early Facebook investor Sean Parker donated $50,000 to support Prop. J.

Lee is up for re-election next year. He was featured in four different photos in a recent Prop. J mailer that was headlined: “Take it from a former dishwasher: Yes on J.”

Supervisor Jane Kim, who was up for re-election Tuesday and is believed to have her eye on higher office, had no competitive challenger but paid for a cable TV commercial to extol Prop J.

John Coté is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jcote@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnwcote