Merchants, students satisfied with election results

Voters seemed less than interested that the first Republican City Council member in recent memory had been elected to represent the UA area. Proposition 202, which would have raised the minimum wage by $1.85, was defeated 27 percent to 71 percent by vote rs.

"The reality is that this is Tucson. Small businesses around here won't vote for it, and it would affect the consumer - prices would go up," said Robert Spikes, manager of Cafe Paraiso, 800 E. University Blvd.

Breann O'Toole, psychology senior and Gentle Ben's Brewing Company employee, said she did not vote but would have voted against the raise.

"I think if you work hard enough you can make more money," she said, explaining that good workers are rewarded by their employers.

Not all students agreed.

Scott Burgess, a journalism senior, said the proposed hike was too much for voters to stomach, and that $6 would have been better.

Burgess works at The Gap, 825 E. University, and No Anchovies, 870 E. University. Both jobs pay around minimum wage which is hardly enough to survive on, he said.

"I make about $800 a month, it is unreasonable to live on that," Burgess said. He added that after he pays rent and utilities there is a little more than $200 left.

"I have nothing left over to save," he said.

Others agreed the $7 wage was intimidating.

"I think, at the base level, it was a good idea. People didn't take into consideration the effects of such a big increase," said history senior Amy Green.

Green is assistant manager at Philly's Finest, 942 E. University, that she said would have been forced out of business by the hike.

Dennis Arnold, owner of Gentle Ben's, 865 E. University, said he was not worried about the minimum wage proposal because it never could have been implemented.

"Why not just pass a law that says Tucsonans get paid the same as people in Phoenix?" Arnold asked.

Robert Cable, a full-time employee of Coffee Plantation, 845 E. University, said he was glad to see the measure defeated.

"I want us to be less like L.A. and New York. We aren't those places and we shouldn't act like it," Cable said. All the prices would be inflated and the workers would be in the same situation, he said.

Reaction to a Republican win in the City Council's Ward 6 race was mostly apathetic and many said they thought little would change.

Republican Fred Rondstadt squeaked by favored Democrat Alison Hughes by a little more than 1 percent.

Arnold said it was interesting that Hughes backed the $7 an hour proposal and lost.

"Rondstadt seems more level headed," Arnold said, adding that Tucson Democrats push the status quo - generally considered to be anti-business.

Green said party affiliations will not change representation in Ward 6.

"A centrist from either side is still a centrist," Green said.

A.J. Weigel, a UA freshman and employee at Domino's Pizza in the Memorial Student Union, agreed.

"Personally I don't see much difference (between the parties) anymore," Weigel said. "They are becoming more and more similar."

The solution - "get rid of the two party system," he said.