Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett is among a bipartisan group of state mayors, urging voters to reject a ballot measure in November that opponents say would reduce the take home pay of thousands of neighborhood restaurants, servers, bartenders and other tipped employees.
Barrett joined Methuen Mayor Neil Perry and Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon and nine other Commonwealth mayors to side with the Committee to Protect Tips, sponsoring the No on 5 ballot question campaign.
“The restaurant industry is a cornerstone of our local economy, providing jobs and generating tax revenue. This ballot question would disrupt the system that currently works for servers, bartenders and business owners who have said time and time again that they want to keep it the way it is. Vote No on 5 for the future of Haverhill and communities across the Commonwealth,” Barrett said in a release.
Chris Keohan, spokesperson for the Committee to Protect Tips, explained the chief executives’ support. “When mayors walk into a restaurant in their community, servers and bartenders are letting them know directly that there is overwhelming opposition among the staff, management and owners of neighborhood restaurants across the state. The reason is simple…this will lower tipped employee take home pay, skyrocket costs to restaurants and dramatically increase prices to patrons resulting in fewer jobs and closured businesses.”
Perry said passage of the measure “will create irreversible economic damages within each and every community in Massachusetts.” Reardon added he worked in restaurants for more than 30 years, and “it was an occupation that kept my family in our home and food on our table.”
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