Council member Sally Bagshaw is organizing a roundtable session for businesses and nonprofits tomorrow to discuss the proposed employee-hours tax (aka a “head tax”). Her office sent me a list of who is currently planning to participate.
Baghsaw’s office noted that this is not a final list and they are still working on confirming a few more people. They also said that the schedule may change depending on who participates. Still, this is a sharp contrast from the meager participation by businesses in the Progressive Revenue Task Force organized by Council members Gonzalez and Herbold.
The session is organized around different business sectors, with each group allocated about 20 minutes.
Here’s the draft schedule with participants:
12:35-12:55 Panel 1 Retail
Gail Stringer Hawaii General Store
Sara Osborne Safeway
12:55-1:15 Panel 2 Tech and Finance
Saul Spady Cre8tive
Dan McGrady Pemco
1:15-1:35: Panel 3 Ethnic Business representatives
(none currently confirmed)
1:35-1:55: Panel 5 Hospitality
Destiny Sund The Confectional
Steve Hooper Kigo Kitchen
Jenne Oxford Kimpton
Rich Fox Poquitos and Stoneburner
1:55- 2:15 Panel 4 Non-Profit and Life Sciences
Josh LaBelle Arts Theater Group
Margaret McCormick Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason
Marc Cummings Life Science WA
2:15-2:35 Panel 6 Manufacturing/Development/Industrial
Franki Foti Vigor Shipyards
Barb Wilson Vulcan
Hello,
Can you tell me how the people participating in the roundtable are selected?
It’s a good question. Bagshaw’s office put out a call for participants, and has also been inviting folks directly. I don’t think they are turning people away. With the Progressive Revenue Task Force, the business community boycotted it because the outcome appeared to be pre-determined. It doesn’t look like they are trying to get specific recommendations out of tomorrow’s session, so my guess is that made it more palatable for businesses to participate.