The group famous for singing “Puff the Magic Dragon” is coming to town in support of the city’s living wage law.
Folk-trio Peter, Paul and Mary will play a 30-minute free concert on the steps of City Hall on Sunday to kick off the campaign to enact the city’s living wage ordinance.
The group’s members have long been politically active on anti-apartheid, homelessness and workers’ rights causes. Recently members of the group have joined in the campaign to bring better working conditions to California’s strawberry pickers.
“We’ve always been involved with issues that deal with the fundamental human rights of people, whether that means the right to political freedom or the right to breathe air that’s clean,” said Mary Travers in a prepared statement.
Peter, Paul and Mary began their political performances with an appearance in 1962 to support social programs proposed by John F. Kennedy. They also marched in civil rights demonstrations in Frankfurt, Ky. in 1964 and a year later with Martin Luther King, Jr. from Selma-Montgomery, Ala.
“We live in more pragmatic times than when we originally recorded (our) songs, but many of the dreamers of the ’60s have been elected to governmental office or taken on a leadership role in their communities,” said Paul Stookey. “They are now in the position to make a difference.”
The group will be joined by State Sen. Sheila Keuhl (D-Santa Monica), Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown and former city councilman Tony Vasquez, among others, in advocating voters enact the living wage referendum on this November’s ballot.
For the most part, the campaign for the living wage is being paid for by the Hotel Employee & Restaurant Employees Union, which represents workers at two Santa Monica hotels and is actively attempting to recruit workers at two more.
Most of the businesses that would be forced to pay higher salaries because of the living wage ordinance are large restaurants and luxury hotels located near the beach.
The living wage law would raise the minimum wage for low-income workers at coastal Santa Monica businesses with revenue of more than $5 million a year from $6.75 to $10.50 with health benefits or $12.25 without benefits. The wage for workers without benefits would increase to $13 after one year.
Organizers of the event said they were pleasantly surprised the group would take time out of its busy schedule to kick off their campaign. On average, the group plays 40 concerts a year, according to the group’s management.
“It was sort of serendipitous,” said Vivian Rothstein, leader of a group advocating for the living wage.
According to Rothstein, the Campaign to Enact a Living Wage met with an anonymous donor from Warner Bros. Music — the same label Peter, Paul and Mary record on — who wanted to know if there were any ways the music community could get involved.
The manager for the folk group, Martha Hertzberg, was present at the meeting and suggested Peter, Paul and Mary play a set in support of the cause.
After checking the group’s schedule, Hertzberg found they would be in Los Angeles this weekend and would be happy to play at the campaign’s kick-off event, Rothstein said.
“It just seemed like a great way to kick this off,” Rothstein said. “So we held off until they could be here.”
“It just seemed like a great way to kick this off. So we held off until (Peter, Paul and Mary) could be here.” — — VIVIAN ROTHSTEIN Living wage advocate leader
Peter, Paul and Mary are best known for their songs, “Puff, The Magic Dragon,” “If I Had A Hammer,” “Leaving On A Jet Plane” and “Blowin’ In The Wind.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 21, 2002. Read the original PDF.