To the editor:

After reading Eric Haar’s “Wage fears” of April 18, I would like to say, fear not a fair wage. “Those who know a thing or two about economics,” (and even those who don’t), know that people who work in Lawrence are often underpaid. Take a look at the Kansas Statistical Abstract and you will see that wages and salaries in Douglas County are below the state average.

Saying that instituting a living wage in Lawrence would be a disincentive to education and skill development is simply misleading. Anyone living in Lawrence for any length of time knows this community is full of individuals with degrees making less than $25,000 per year. Further, to consider that creating a living wage would be like “ringing the dinner bell” for the folks who would flock to Lawrence from other parts of the state, is laughable. Does Eric mean, like the people from Lawrence who “flock” down K-10 and I-70 every morning to Overland Park, Kansas City, and Topeka, where people are paid fair compensation for their services? No tax abatements for sweatshops in Lawrence.

Debra Riley-Huff,

Lawrence