I’ve owned The Garden Gate Café in Niwot for 25 years. I’m reaching out in response to your recent article, “Longmont to Host Minimum Wage ‘Fishbowl’ Discussion Amid Calls for Worker Representation.” Thank you for covering this important and complicated topic.
I want to share with you what’s happening just down the road from Longmont—and why we’re urging neighboring communities to take a hard look at the unintended consequences of this policy. In Niwot, the minimum wage increase was forced on us without our consent and without any input from the businesses or workers directly affected. The damage we’ve seen is real: prices have gone up, jobs have been lost, and beloved local businesses have closed their doors.
This policy was applied to us by three Boulder County Commissioners who never invited our feedback—and who have repeatedly dismissed our concerns. Meanwhile, well-funded labor advocacy groups have dominated the conversation, often painting small business owners like myself as villains. But we are the ones who hire, train, and rely on the very workers they claim to champion. We know these employees personally. We know what helps them, and what hurts them. And what’s happening now in Niwot is deeply harmful.
The voices of actual workers in our town have been drowned out. Ironically, most of them don’t support these changes—because their hours have been cut, their jobs eliminated, or their tips reduced as restaurants shift to service charges or close altogether. And yet, no one has asked them.
We’re holding a protest event in Niwot on August 12 at 10:00 a.m. It’s not just about Niwot anymore. It’s about what happens when policies are applied without listening to the communities they affect.
Sincerely,
Steve Gaibler
Owner, The Garden Gate Café
