Restaurants

Raising the minimum wage by 20% presents serious challenges for small, locally owned restaurants. These businesses typically operate on razor-thin profit margins, often below 3%, leaving little room to absorb sudden cost increases. A sharp jump in labor expenses forces owners to make difficult decisions: raising menu prices (risking customer loss), reducing staff hours, or cutting jobs entirely.

For restaurants that depend on entry-level workers, such as dishwashers, bussers, and servers, higher wages can also mean fewer opportunities for young people seeking their first job. Many restaurants are still recovering from pandemic-related losses and rising costs of food, utilities, and rent. Please help our restaurants small and large and VOTE NO on proposition 1.

Brandon Weedon

Owner of Fatso's Bar & Grill

"Prop 1 has great intentions, unfortunately the impact will have extreme consequences for the people it is intended to help. Olympia is a small community filled with wonderful small businesses. These are the types of places our community wants and needs. If this initiative were to pass we would lose much of what we have come to love about our community. Our small coffee shops, painting and pottery stores, restaurants, farmers market and much more will all be at risk of closing their doors permanently or moving to adjacent cities.

The impression is that Proposition 1 will make large employers more accountable for their workers, but most of the businesses in downtown Olympia are small businesses, regardless of number of employees. Please vote no on Prop 1–it will hurt local businesses and all the community members we employ."

Prop 1 Hurts more than helps

Restaurants