Before you decide how to vote on Proposition 210, please consider our side. We aren't politicians or professors, and we're not corporate CEOs. We're small business owners. We struggle to make ends meet and, with other small business owners, are the backbone of the state's economy.

PUT SIMPLY, PROPOSITION 210 WILL PLACE ADDITIONAL BURDENS ON SMALL BUSINESSES WE CANNOT BEAR. Congress is already considering increasing the minimum wage. Now, labor unions want to raise California's even higher. THAT'S GOING TO PUT SOME OF US OUT OF BUSINESS. MANY WILL HAVE TO LAY OFF WORKERS. OTHERS WILL CUT HOURS. And still others will postpone hiring new employees at a time when California's unemployment rate is among the highest in the nation.

Who is going to pay for these wage increases? Small business owners like us. Folks like you will pay through higher prices. Young people, recent immigrants and former welfare recipients will pay, because THERE WILL BE FEWER ENTRY LEVEL JOBS.

Only five percent of the work force currently earns minimum wage--mostly teenagers with part-time jobs or young adults just starting out. BUT FOR THOSE OF US SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE, THESE FORCED WAGE INCREASES WILL BE A CRUSHING BLOW.

Consider our plights:

• I'm Sheldon Grossman. I own a car wash in Long Beach that employs 20 people at minimum wage. Proposition 210 will force me to increase their pay 35%, or $1.50 an hour. That's $88,000 more a year just in salary increases. And that's just minimum wage employees. Others who have earned raises over time, will expect more, and increases in Social Security and workers' comp costs will be a further burden, too. We're talking about $150,000 a year. I can't afford that kind of increase.
• I'm Connie Trimble. I own a small family restaurant in Burbank. I'll be forced to pass on these wage increases to my customers, many of whom are senior citizens on fixed incomes. My minimum wage employees make good money in tips but I will be forced to give them a pay raise totalling 35%. I don't know if my business can survive that hit.
• I'm Bill Merwin. I own a family farm near Sacramento. All our employees earn more than the minimum wage, but any increase will push up our wage scale. We now hire and train employees, but, if Proposition 210 passes, we will only hire trained employees. Since I don't set the price of the food I grow, I can't pass on the extra costs to my customers. A big wage increase would be devastating to my family and many other small farmers.

Chances are your corner grocer, your favorite diner owner and the family farmer closest to you oppose Proposition 210, as does the Small Business Survival Committee, California Chamber of Commerce, and National Federation of Independent Business.

PLEASE THINK ABOUT US. AND THINK ABOUT OUR EMPLOYEES, WHO JUST NEED EXPERIENCE TO GET A CHANCE. PLEASE VOTE ''NO" ON PROPOSITION 210.

SHELDON GROSSMAN
Owner, Bixby Knolls Car Wash, Long Beach

CONNIE TRIMBLE
Owner, Barron's Family Restaurant, Burbank

WILLIAM H. MERWIN
Owner, Hunn & Merwin & Merwin Farm, Yolo County