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Powell Street Plaza first East Bay location to launch “Starbucks Evenings” program

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The Powell Street Plaza Starbucks soft-opened their “Starbucks Evenings” program on Tuesday January 26th. The location is the first in the East Bay Core to launch the program aimed at extending beyond morning, afternoon and evening caffeinated beverages and pre-made foods. The Evenings program adds craft beer, wine and heated small plates to the coffee chains growing list of offerings.

“This store was picked because of its amount of seating, central location & visibility” noted new Store Manager Janelle Mercurio. Mercurio recently moved to Emeryville and previously managed the Hollis location. Janelle began her Starbucks career working as a Barista while putting herself through College.

starbucks-evenings-bites

Pictured: Bacon-wrapped dates, Meatballs, Chicken skewers & Truffled Popcorn washed down with a Lagunitas Pale Ale (Photo: Bobby Lee).

Starbucks first tested the program at its home-base of Seattle in 2010 identifying a need for a casual after work meeting spot. Starbucks has long been a place where a patrons begin their day and are also looking to become an Evening destination and “a place to unwind”.

Craft Beers includes local favorites by Anchor Brewing (S.F.) and Lagunitas (Petaluma) as well as Ballast Point (San Diego). Wines were curated by a small team of Starbucks “sensory experts” who tasted more than 500 wines to determine the 10 best factoring in value and taste.


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The Starbucks Evenings menu features food items including bacon-wrapped dates, meatballs with tomato sauce, chicken skewers, truffle popcorn, chicken sausage and mushroom flatbread. Prices for Beer are in the $5 range, Food in the $5-7 range and a glass of wine running from $8-10.

In addition to counter service, Starbucks employs a waiter-hybrid referred to as “second service” who checks ID’s and relays orders and payments.

To make the store more inviting and social for evening patrons, the store integrated dimmable lighting and a community table. Future plans for Starbucks Evening locations may include local art and live acoustic music.

Beer & Wine are served after 2pm on weekdays and noon on weekends and stay open an addition hour from Fri-Sun until 10pm. Beginning February 4th, the locations will implement a weekly tasting from 5-6pm. The Location is expected to host an official Grand Opening event sometime in Mid-February. “We have a live music license and I’ve been inquiring with locals & regulars who they might like to see perform” added Janelle.

The program was also rolled out in Danville (which is in Alameda County and technically considered “East Bay”) and there are plans to bring the program to the Alameda Webster Square location. Starbucks Corporate is working to identify addition locations that can accommodate the program but there are no current plans to bring this to Emeryville’s other two Starbucks locations.

Follow the Christie Avenue Store on their unofficial Instagram account for additional updates @StarbucksChristieAve.

Sample Menu (Varies by region. Not all items available):
starbucks-evenings-menu

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Rob Arias

is a third generation Californian and East Bay native who lived in Emeryville from 2003 to 2021. Rob founded The E'ville Eye in 2011 after being robbed at gunpoint and lamenting the lack of local news coverage. Rob's "day job" is as a creative professional.

39 Comments

  1. I’m wondering why they would expand their business activity like this after the $12.25 minimum wage hit they now have to pay thanks to Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance that went into effect last summer. Not only have they not gone bankrupt, they’ve expanded their business.

    • Thank you for your fairly polite question Mr. Donahue. I asked them about this and they said no additional staff is required for this service but as a result of the MWO, they’ve had to cut back considerably on training and be more creative juggling employee shifts. Again, corporations seem to be adapting much better than small, independent businesses from my conversations as they have the leverage to negotiate with suppliers, can absorb price hikes easier and their promotion and marketing is handled externally among many other variables. Mokka Coffee in Berkeley on the other hand was not so fortunate:
      http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/01/28/mokka-to-close-minimum-wage-rises-a-major-factor/

      • So instead of hurting residents who wish more retail activity in Emeryville, the net effect here is there is an expansion of choices for Emeryville residents.
        This is consistent with what what City Hall tells us; in the six months since the Minimum Wage Ordinance passed, business starts are up slightly and business closures are way dow. In fact before the MWO, an average of 16 businesses were closing every month in Emeryville…after passage of the MWO that number has fallen to 4 per month if my memory serves me. Check the Tattler for details.

      • The data out of City Hall you are referencing was data across all industries and segments ignoring that only a small set of industries hire minimum wage workers and also ignoring the timing of when most businesses submit their business closure forms in Eville. That allowed you to make the incorrect conclusion you repeated here.

        Cut a hole in 10% of the boats in the Emeryville Marina during a rising tide. 90% of the boats still rise. That doesn’t mean you didn’t sink 10% of the boats.

        Here’s a better analysis:
        http://www.investors.com/news/economy/minimum-wage-chills-hiring-in-dc-chicago-la-san-francisco/

        Or something less analytical:
        http://thepioneeronline.com/29197/metro/walmart-closes-oakland-store/

        Just talk to local business owners and people trying to rent out retail space in Emeryville. Small local businesses that hire minimum wage workers are retiring, selling, moving, cutting staff, cutting hours, and struggling for survival.

        Unlike the City Council, small businesses don’t turn on a dime and can’t invent a reality that suits them. The impact is obvious if you are willing to listen honestly to the local businesses.

        As you’ve pointed out a few times on your blog, Emeryville is no longer a business friendly city. Small, locally serving businesses would be wise to avoid it like the plague.

      • Nice global warming denialism going on here. There’s nothing that will convince those who deny that the burning of fossil fuels are warming our planet. Just like the anti-anti-tobacco schtick from the 1990’s. As I said, the Emeryville City Council is now using measurability in the formulation of public policy even if you can’t countenance that. They’re listening to scientists even as you war on them (scientists). Yes, Emeryville is no longer a business friendly city…and that’s the way it should be. Business is here at our pleasure (barring what is given them by right by the Constitution). They have no power…they can’t even vote. A city that’s business friendly is one that’s working for the businesses. That’s old Emeryville. Welcome to the new Emeryville…where business interests take a back seat now to resident’s interests. Businesses want to extract profit from our town…that’s their interest. Residents want to make a nice place to live…that’s our interest. The two are mutually exclusive even if we need (some) businesses arguably to make a nice place to live. They’re here for us, insofar as we want them here, not the other way around.

    • Thank you for furthering this civil discussion. While I understand that some prefer to take what City Hall tells them as fact, I feel it is the role of the media to question the decisions of politicians and expose the truth. If you’re suggesting that a 60% spike in the cost of labor is somehow propelling business startups, I’d love to hear your theory. I did in fact see the chart which suggested an increase in business startups since the MWO was passed but one thing that you omitted was the names/types/No. Employees of the businesses. Here they are:

      AUGUST
      ACAI SKIN STUDIOS 3996 SAN PABLO AVE ESTHETICIAN
      FAMILY POPCORN 3610 PERALTA ST#112 GROSS RECEIPTS
      ADHEREN INC. 5858 HORTON ST SUITE 255 OFFICE
      MARIAM MOASSER 6363 CHRISTIE AVE #1606 CONSULTANT
      LATRONIX TECHNOLOGY CORP 1719 64TH ST # 200 RETAIL
      IMPERFECT FOODS, SPC 1385 63RD ST WHOLE SALE PRODUCE
      GOMEZ AUTO WHOLESALE 1355 PARK AVE AUTO WHOLESALES
      DI NATALE FUNDRAISING COUNSEL 4 CAPTAIN DR, E-311 FUNDRAISING SERVICES
      THE SALAMANDER 3310 POWELL ST, #A RETAIL
      3800 SAN PABLO,LLC 3800 SAN PABLO AVE COMMRENT
      SF-BAY AREA PROVISIONS, INC. 1349 64TH ST DISTRIBUTOR
      IMPERFECT FOODS,SPC 1385 63RD STREET WAREHOUSE
      ZYMERGEN, INC 6121 HOLLIS ST, #700 R&D BIOTECH

      SEPTEMBER:
      SQUARE Z RESEARCH LLC 2340 POWELL # 345 FURNITURE WAREHOUSE
      NORDSTROM RACK 3839 EMERY ST. RETAIL
      VOLEON INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS LLC 1900 POWELL # 600 OFFICE
      VOLEON INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS LP 1901 POWELL # 600 OFFICE
      EILEEN CHIANG DESIGN 1303 POWELL ST. # 107 WEB DESIGN
      CARS UNIVERSAL INC. 1900 POWELL # 6045 AUTO WHOLESALE
      ONE GOOD CHOICE 5 COMMODORE DR. FOOD PRODUCTION
      PROJECT 5 DESIGN, INC. 4071 EMERY GRAPHIC DESIGN
      BO & BRITA LIMITED LIABILITY CO. 1315 61ST ST. RETAIL
      FIELD OF LIGHT CHIROPRACTIC 1900 POWELL # 6043 CHIROPRACTIC OFFICE
      WRI-S LLC 1451 66TH ST. OFFICE
      WHITE ROAD PASSO STELVIO FUND LLC 1451 66TH ST. OFFICE
      CLIF WHITE ROAD INVESTMENTS LLC 1451 66TH ST. OFFICE
      DIASSESS INC. 1412 62ND ST. MED. DEVICE MANUFACTURING
      6440 SHELLMOUND INVESTMENT LLC 6440 SHELLMOUND COMMERCIAL LANDLORD
      UNITED WITH EARTH CORP. 4080 WATTS ST. WAREHOUSE
      BEST BURRITOS EMERYVILLE 1400 POWELL # C RESTAURANT
      BARBARY GHOST LLC 3310 POWELL TRANSPORTATION-BOAT
      SERENA & LILY, INC. 1399 64TH ST. WAREHOUSE
      TRANSIT SYSTEMS ENGINEERING,INC. 2200 POWELL ENGINEERING & CONSULTING
      NOSOCOM SOLUTIONS, INC. 6 COMMODORE C238 OFFICE

      OCTOBER:
      TERRA GREEN CDC 1900 POWELL ST, 6TH FLR NONPROFIT
      BF PRINTING SERVICE 6647 HOLLIS ST PRINTING
      WILLIAM MAYNARD 1220 59TH ST EMERYVILLE
      PROTO HOUSE 6315 DOYLE ST 3D PRINTING & DESIGN SERVICES
      VENCO GRAPHICS 2340 PARK AVE GRAPHIC DESING
      N9 TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 6635 HOLLIS ST AUDIO VIDEO
      TRUE RECRUITER LLC 116 GLASHAUS LOOP STAFFING & RECRUITING SERVICES
      COLE-FRIEMAN & MALLON LLP 6001 SHELLMOUND ST, STE 710 LAW OFFICES
      ULTA BEAUTY 3839 EMERY ST, STE 200 RETAIL BEAUTY PRODUCTS
      EXTREME REACH, INC. 2000 POWELL ST, #970 VIDEO ADVERTISING

      NOVEMBER
      THREAD AND WONDERLUST 1330 POWELL ST ONLINE RETAIL
      GEAR AND GLASS 5743 HORTON ST CAMERA RENTALS
      DESERT FIRE PROTECTION 1240 POWELL ST CONTRACTOR
      BRICK ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS 1266 66TH ST, STE 1 ARCHITECTURE
      NATASHA SADLOWSKI 1518 PARK AVE HAIR STYLIST
      ETHAN WILSON CLIFFTON ARCHITECT 1333 POWELL ST, STE B105 ARCHITECT
      ALLOY LED LLC 6121 VALLEJO ST MARKET & DISTRIBUTE LED LIGHTING EQUIPTMENT
      REYNOLDS POST MEDIA 1465 65TH ST, #458 CONSULTING
      WEE NOURISH 5884 VALLEJO ST BABY FOOD MAKER

      Honestly, the only small retail business that I’m familiar with is Best Coast Burritos who were already in Emeryville and moved from the Public Market. Nordstrom & Ulta had already announced their intent to open in Emeryville as Starbucks announced their intent to bring their Evenings Program prior to the MWO passing as you know.

      Any further questions about Starbucks Evenings?

      • Well, the lion’s share of those businesses likely employ fewer than 55 employees, the definition of a small business in Emeryville. The information from City Hall confirms that in the abstract as well, you should know. The increase in new business start ups since the implementation of the MWO is small. By far the greater change in the business climate since the MWO is the huge drop off in business closures. Before the MWO, many more businesses were closing than after its implementation.
        And FYI, the numbers from City Hall are NOT from ‘politicians’ as you say They are produced by the Finance Department and for the City to be lying about the numbers, as you hint may be happening, they would have to be breaking the law…an unlikely scenario especially since there’s no political gain to be had to do so. If that’s a story you want to chase with your blog, be my guest.
        What are we to take from the fact that more businesses are opening and many fewer businesses are closing since the implementation of the MWO? Certainly not what you suggest; that somehow the MWO is responsible for those numbers, there’s nothing about raising wages that would likely cause those results. Rather, what’s instructive about these numbers is that the MWO has NOT produced the mass business failures that were predicted by the business community.
        Regarding the Starbucks business expansion to evening service, it also flies in the face of the cries of existential doom by business prognosticators in the lead up to the passage of the MWO. The only thing easy to prognosticate is the right on cue uproar that always accompanies any move by City Hall to get businesses in Emeryville to pay their fair share, as in Measure C, 2005’s ‘living wage for hotel workers’ plebiscite. We were going to see a wholesale exodus of the Emeryville hospitality industry we were told if it passed. Well, it DID pass and that was when we had only 4 hotels in town….now we’re getting #5. Businesses don’t like it when they’re asked to pay more and they’ll cry foul when so asked. That’s what you would expect. If there’s nothing lost by them to lie about it to protect their profits, that’s also what you would expect them to do. It’s really a pretty simple thing to predict.

      • No one ever claimed that the businesses unaffected by the MWO would be affected by the MWO. The boats without the holes float merrily along.

        It’s the businesses that ARE affected by the MWO that are struggling. They happen to be the ones that the poor and unskilled need to survive, the ones that take people off of unemployment and give them jobs, the ones that train the workers no one else will hire.

        The businesses that were doing more than their fair share to help the poor and unskilled are the ones City Council targeted and undermined. Note that Starbucks is dropping training and getting creative with scheduling to solve the MWO problem. Guess who that hurts? The poor and the unskilled.

        The unions that pushed this through aren’t in this to protect the poor. They are in it to protect the unions. That became obvious when they wrote an exclusion into the MWO for themselves.

        Go talk to the small businesses for yourself. They’re not making it up. Despite what you think, almost all of the local small business owners care a lot more about their employees’ well-being than the union reps who came to town, jammed their law through, and left the local businesses fighting to make payroll.

  2. Well Mr Anonymous, you’re letting your anti-union bigotry show a little more than right wingers usually do…at least more than those outside the fly over states usually do. Your fake sanctimony concerning poor people is betrayed by your Republican ‘trickle down’ nostrums. Virtually none of your neighbors believe this clap trap. Emeryville is less than 20% Republican. So that’s who you’re speaking to. The 80% here aren’t buying it. They’d be Republicans if they did. To offer some advice, you’d be more effective if you used the standard blue state Republican way of speaking: generous (liberal) application of subterfuge. You’re too proudly letting your anti-working people flag fly. You should try to hide that better.
    So with this in mind, specifically Emeryville’s decidedly non-Republican demographic, you’re going to have to wrap your head around the fact that law makers here will use measurability as they formulate public policy. Measurability…that means science…facts…provability. They’re not reading Milton Friedman or listening to Rush Limbaugh or the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Club for Growth or any of the other right wing propaganda machines meant to pull the wool over people’s eyes.
    And for your information, re your last paragraph; they ARE making it up (outliers notwithstanding). News flash to you; people will lie to protect their money or possessions. This has been known about humans by humans since laws were first written before the advent of agriculture…that would mean more than 10,000 years ago (6000 if you’re a Republican). In fact it’s why we HAVE laws, because we know people will lie.

    Please come out of the shadows. Reveal your identity…your argument will have more power. Really, there’s no need to be fearful. Become part of the community. You’ll find liberals (Emeryville’s 80%) won’t hurt you.

    • I think you misunderstand Democrats. We understand that unions look out for their own interests.

      As you correctly point out, it’s human nature. We understand that Jennifer Lin who represents the SEIU via EBASE and pushed the MWO through fights first for her own interests. She’s not being paid by the unions to represent the local residents and small businesses, the poor, or the Emeryville community. She’s being paid to promote the union agenda.

      Democrats also understand that the interests of the poor and the interests of unions aren’t always well aligned.

      A great example: when the Walmart in Oakland opened, 11,000 people applied for just 400 jobs. In other words, 11,000 mostly entry level workers decided that they would like to work at Walmart. 28 times as many people wanted to work at Walmart as Walmart could hire. These are people making choices for themselves. They are not fools, and they decided it was in their self-interest to work at Walmart. Walmart offers entry level work, trains its employees, is great on a retail resume, and consistently hires management from within.

      When Walmart was forced out of Oakland a few weeks ago because of the minimum wage, the SEIU literally cheered on twitter over the loss of jobs. At the same time, Oakland residents took to the media to say how much losing Walmart would hurt them.

      People, and Democrats in particular, are not stupid. That’s why in some of the most liberal regions of the nation last November, $15 minimum wage laws lost when liberal voters were given a choice. It’s why in Berkeley, a $19 minimum failed at City Council. The community understands that raising the minimum wage to $15 from $9 in 30 days is foolish, risky, and irresponsible. And they understand that it had nothing to do with what local residents wanted.

      In contrast to national unions, small local businesses are very dependent on a small group of employees. They can’t compete with big business in terms of wages or benefits. So to keep their employees, they have to look out for them and treat them well. You would describe that as self-interest, but for small businesses, self-interest and community interest go hand-in-hand.

      Take a poll and ask whether local residents would rather have a national union group or the local members of the community leading the city. I think I can guess the result.

      • That’s a pretty impressive use of Republican talking points there Mr Anonymous. Do you keep ’em in your back pocket or are you a REAL right wing ideologue who’s committed it to memory?
        So let me ask you two questions that are quite vexing for you, questions you will feel a great deal of discomfort about; when was the Great American Middle Class built? And how did the Great Depression end? These are two very simple questions to answer yet Republicans universally stumble with them. It’s because they cut to basic notions of governance….a subject not amenable to contemporary conservative thought. I know you’re fearful of attempting answering these two legitimate and simple questions (any high school graduate and any Democrat can easily answer them), but go ahead and give it a shot.

      • When you start talking “party purity”, you’ve lost the argument.

        Ideas stand on their own two feet. Ideas don’t need a party affiliation to prop them up as good or bad. The $15 minimum wage failed in heavily Democratic communities last November because Democrats voted it down. Democrats tend to vote down bad ideas.

        When you write your “Guide to Political Purity”, you’ll need to send a copy to Gov. Jerry Brown (D). He opposes a $15 minimum wage too.

        I think most people believe the Emeryville city council should represent Emeryville rather than the unions. We pay the rent and upkeep on Town Hall. The SEIU just visits when it’s convenient.

  3. Oldest trick in the book…”when you’ve xxxxx, you’ve lost the argument”. You just plied me with a sleazy arguing tactic dude. It’s not surprising that you would, given I asked you two questions any high school senior can answer but all Republicans run away from. The answers to the two questions show the value in having collective labor bargaining a viable part of economic productivity and health for building a middle class but, as I said, it’s inconvenient for Republicans to answer questions like these.

    • I thought the oldest trick in the book was changing the subject when you’re struggling to defend your position.

      We were discussing whether the city council should be taking its policy direction from the SEIU and EBASE or whether, alternatively, it should be listening to the local community.

      • Good point, the oldest trick isn’t what I said …I was mistaken. That’s the third oldest trick in the book. The actual oldest trick is when Republicans to try to convince rational people that they’re one of them. Me too! I’m rational too! As I discount science, I’m here to tell you I’m rational, just like you guys are!
        The second oldest trick is to say, “we were discussing….” to try to steer the topic away from the unpleasantness at hand.

        Why are you posting anonymously? We were discussing that you should reveal your identity.

      • I’m not going to play. You started a conversation about the Emeryville minimum wage. Now you’re trying to make it a conversation about anything else. If you’ve given up trying to defend your position, then we’re done.

        I’ll grant that the Emeryville minimum wage ordinance is pretty hard to defend. Avoiding the subject would probably be a better bet for you and city council.

  4. No, you’re wrong. My position is defended by the actual numbers of real Emeryville businesses as reported by the Finance Department. These are the ONLY actual data we have. What they show is Emeryville businesses have not been harmed by the Minimum Wage Ordinance; new starts up and closure way down. Everything you’re offering are pure right wing talking point abstractions. You have NO DATA in Emeryville to back up your claims, just a lot of Rush Limbaugh “facts”. The only data we have shows the MWO has been a rousing success: poor people with much more money pouring it back into the local economy with no negative effects on businesses. Everything else is speculation (or wishful thinking on your part).

    “Not going to play”? And why is that? Why Mr Anonymous, won’t you sign your work, take responsibility? Why do you hide from the public? If I can speculate for a moment now, I think it’s because you’d be embarrassed if you revealed yourself as a Republican to your friends and colleagues here. You’re a secret Republican. I can understand why; the Bay Area is overwhelmingly Democratic and Republicans are pretty much universally looked upon with disgust. So is that it? Don’t want to loose friends?

    • Rob and Anonymous explained at the beginning of the thread why your “data” doesn’t demonstrate what you are claiming. Just shouting the same incorrect thing over and over doesn’t make it any more true.

      Businesses that hire entry level workers are closing or moving out (Coco Delice, Bucci’s, Commonwealth, E42, Pottery Barn, Pier 1, etc), hours are being cut (see Starbucks above as one example), property owners are having trouble renting space (talk to them), and existing business owners have made it clear they are struggling. You have to live in a fog to miss what’s going on.

      The fact that a bunch of biotechs, software developers, and accountants are moving into Emeryville is not a sign that the MWO is a “rousing success”.

      Didn’t the local businesses petition the City Council to do an economic study so there would actually be some economic data? Not a bad thing to do. And didn’t the City Council ignore them?

      Funny that city council carefully avoided having any actual data to base their decision on or to be able to measure the results against. I guess it’s not so funny if you got a pink slip recently from one of the businesses above and your landlord is knocking on your door looking for the rent.

      • So Mr Anonymous Republican, where do you get your data that the MWO is doing what you say it is? I’ve told you where I get my data…from the Finance Department. Go ahead and provide your source please. When you cite the source, make sure it’s not the E’Ville Eye, because noting a business closing here and there, something that happens all the time, is not useful data. I want you to cite a source that is not interested as I have done.
        Local businesses weighing in is not a disinterest source for a “study”. That’s just for profit businesses lobbying City Hall for preferential treatment. I told you, responsible decision makers have to use data from disinterested parties because they’re doing the public’s bidding. I know this is something that vexes you…Just like my two legitimate questions you refuse to answer…just like my asking you to reveal yourself and take responsibility for your politicking here. Why won’t you use your real name? What are you afraid of?

      • Since the data you are citing doesn’t demonstrate what you are claiming, I’ll cite your Emeryville data as demonstrating my point. It supports my point as well as it supports yours. The problem is that we have no useful economic data BECAUSE the Emeryville City Council refused to do the study the local businesses petitioned for. So, we’re left with using our own eyes and ears.

        I talk to local business owners when I’m at their stores. I see closures of long-established businesses that hire entry level workers. I even look at other regions that have raised the minimum wage too high, too fast, and across the board, we’re seeing a slowing of growth in restaurant and retail as you’d expect. Anyone reading this can do the same thing, and I would recommend that they do so. Just talk to the people involved.

        With hats off to Mr. Carlin below, I realize it’s a bit of a lost cause chatting with you, but I think it’s worthwhile to let everyone see the group that was behind the MWO and how they think. Brian, you’re a great representative of RULE, EBASE, the SEIU, and the RULE block of City Council (Scott Donahue, Jac Asher, and Dianne Martinez).

        With Carlin in mind, I will make my final conclusion: Your reluctance to accept reality is because you’re a Republican. What other reason could there be? The top Democrat in the state opposes a $15 minimum wage because of the damage it does to the poor and unemployed, but you and your Rush Limbaugh loving friends, choose to oppose Governor Jerry Brown and invent your own reality. You’ve forgotten that Emeryville is 80% Democrats, so your conservative ideas aren’t going to fly here.

        And this time, seriously, I’m done. I can’t imagine any sane person is still reading these comments. Certainly I no longer qualify.

      • Mr Anonymous Republican-
        You get your information from business owners and I get mine from the Finance Department. And you’re positing your info can be trusted over mine? Because a business would never ever lie to protect their profits, right?
        The City Council didn’t do the “study” you are speaking about because
        1) They already had an exhaustive UC Berkeley minimum wage study that was much more detailed than what Emeryville could do.
        2) It’s really expensive to conduct an (unnecessary) study.
        3) It’s not worth anything to include the businesses that would be effected by the study because we already know they’re interested parties.
        4) It was very clear the ‘lets ask the businesses their opinion’ study was proposed by the same businesses that would have been in the study and it was all a political ploy to try to stop the MWO.
        5) A ‘study’ has to involve study…academic rigor and be science based… not what was being proposed by the Emeryville businesses.

        So will you please reveal yourself to Emeryville residents? Why do you continue to hide behind your anonymous moniker?

      • ‘If you don’t get what you want from a study, just keep demanding new ones until one goes your way’. That’s your solution it would appear. And elected public officials should conduct public policy that way why exactly?

      • Could you provide us with a link to the economic study of the Emeryville MWO that you are telling us was done?

      • If you’re looking for the study that Jac Asher repeatedly referenced, it’s the Union-Funded IRLE study. The same study that declares:
        “Restaurant prices would increase by 2.5 percent. A $10 meal would increase by 25 cents, to a total of $10.25. For retail and the local economy as a whole, price increases would be negligible.”:
        http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/cwed/briefs/2014-01.pdf

        The Emeryville Staff led by now City Attorney Michael Guina said it wasn’t applicable to Emeryville and our own Bucci’s (RIP) debunked the study:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_J58x0AvMw

      • That’s Bucci? He’s sure putting up a fight for someone planning to retire and close his restaurant in a couple months. Anybody see their yard sale this weekend of all their equipment? Sad…

      • Why didn’t Jac Asher explain to Commonwealth that they only needed to raise their prices $.25 instead of 20%? They’d probably still be in business! Queen Asher has ALL the answers.

      • So you guys didn’t get your way. We had an election and the pro-business side lost. Now you’re unhappy. It seems democracy has let you down. So you’re bitter that the elected officials that you couldn’t convince of the need to be business friendly , the ones that ran on NOT being business friendly, wouldn’t disregard science in the formulation of public policy and instead do it your way, the (right wing) ideologue way. Seems a bit unhinged when viewed from a distance, when viewed rationally.
        Oh and by the way Mr Anonymous Republican, check out the newest Tattler story; Queen Asher just pulled in $3.6 million for Emeryville….suck on that.

      • Queen Asher called a developer’s bluff and won 11% affordability for Emeryville. Our town is currently 11% affordable housing and the developer for the Market Place apartment project said NO to any more than 33 affordable units…”wouldn’t pencil out” he said. Rob Arias said the developer had us over a barrel and we would have to give in to his demands or else we’d get zero affordable housing. Queen Asher and the rest of the RULE Block said NO to the developer (against Rob’s warning), ‘you have to build your project with at least 11% affordability’ they said. And then the developer, with cap in hand, slinked back to Queen Asher and the RULE Block and agreed to put in 50 units of affordable housing (11%). That’s how RULE blocks it and how Queen Asher runs the town!
        BTW Rob said he’d give Queen Asher and the RULE Block full credit if they could pull that off but we’re still waiting for Rob.

      • Mr. Donahue, we’ve been extremely tolerant of your trolling behavior but I’ve asked you repeatedly not to use The E’ville Eye to promote yourself and post off-topic links to your own blog (I moderated the above comment linking to a story not relevant to Starbucks or even Small Business).
        I’m going to moderate your comments for 30 days in which I hope you’ll return and contribute to the conversation without violating our comment policy. You’ve already been removed from Nextdoor.com recently for levying personal attacks in additional the incident last night where you disrupted yet another meeting to showcase your opinions and misrepresent facts.

        BTW, we did acknowledge the addition 3% rentals that the council negotiated for in this recent post:
        https://evilleeye.com/news-commentary/development/new-city-rules-residential-development-finalized-sherwin-development-eir-posted/

  5. For those that think they have reasonable chance of breaking through to Mr. Donahue and his RULE “I hate all businesses small & large” mentality regardless of how much they contribute to the vitality and financial well-being of this town, I offer you this quote by the late, great Mr. Carlin:

    “Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.”

    ’nuff said.

    • That’s cute Mr Carlin but I don’t hate all business large and small…at least I thought I didn’t maybe you know me better than me. I can’t speak for other RULE members but I haven’t met one that would make me think they hate all business either. So where do you get this information about me that I don’t even know? Are you a phycologist? And also, it’s funny, your name is the same as a famous comedian. But you couldn’t be him because he’s dead but more importantly, he wasn’t a Republican.

    • Just so you know, RULE (Residents United for a Livable Emeryville) backed every winner in the last Emeryville election. That makes the group as mainstream as it gets. What RULE wants, Emeryville residents want. Before that, every RULE candidate won every election…and usually was the top vote getter. RULE is Emeryville and Emeryville is RULE.

  6. I don’t see the point of this argument. Mr Donahue clearly said that Emeryville should no longer be a business friendly city, and that businesses need to pony up if they want to work in this community. And when he specifically said, “It’s not worth anything to include the businesses that would be effected (sic) by the study because we already know they’re interested parties,” he’s saying that businesses should not be asked about what businesses want in order to do business in Emeryville. Only residents should be asked. That’s a fine position to have. Its ideologically defensible to have a minimum wage ordinance, but I don’t think Mr Donahue should put his head in the sand that very small businesses are not going to be struggling the most here. If Emeryville wants to attract and retain community-based small businesses to give it a unique and creative vibe, then it would have been smart for the council to have made greater exemptions for businesses with very small numbers of entry-level workers. I also see the writing on the wall and expect a lot of businesses to fall by the wayside, but that’s just the way things are going to be. But I do think it was a good point that Governor Brown’s position against a statewide minimum wage increase was on the basis that it would cost the state an estimated 4 billion dollars in lost revenue. I think there is a sweet spot for this sort of thing, and unfortunately Emeryville went a little bit too far beyond that point. At least for now. Eventually, inflation will catch up to us.

    • Thank you Tom. The city needs more pragmatic voices like yours and I venture to say if more people were politically engaged and spoke up like you, they would have listened.

    • Tom, actually, inflation will never catch up because Emeryville’s minimum wage is now pegged to the CPI. The minimum wage will drive up inflation and inflation will drive up the minimum wage even further. It’s a death spiral.

      The rest of your comment is dead on. Emeryville just isn’t a good place for small local businesses that hire a lot of entry level workers.

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