Wells at Safeway. Photo by Sarah Anne Hughes.

Outside a Safeway in Southwest D.C., Tommy Wells touted his Live the Wage challenge, in which the Ward 6 Councilmember and mayoral candidate will eat and travel on a minimum wage budget for a week.

Wells arrived late to today’s press conference, as he attempted to use a Circulator to travel from Rosslyn to the Southwest Waterfront. (The bus stopped at 19th and N Streets NW, leaving Wells to walk to the Gallery Place station then take a Metro train over.) “If I were going to a job, trying to save money by trying to reduce my transportation costs … I would be late and that is what many people face,” he said.

The candidate was joined by Shemethia Butler, a 33-year-old McDonald’s employee, mother of two and D.C. resident who earns a minimum wage. Butler would later take Wells inside the Safeway, where to two shopped on a minimum wage budget.

Yes, for the next week, Wells says he will limit his food and transportation budget to $98.28. “Of course, it isn’t anywhere near the same struggle actually faced by those who work and live on minimum wage,” he said. “I can’t imagine the reality of daily struggles D.C. minimum wage earners face.”

When asked how he responded to criticism that his Live the Wage challenge was nothing but a publicity stunt, he responded firmly “Absolutely this is a publicity stunt.”

“You can call it anything you want. Anytime any citizen has an opportunity to speak into a microphone and others will listen, we have a duty to speak to the issues that affect many people that are often in shadows,” he continued. “It doesn’t stop with this event.”

Wells, who is doing the challenge alone, said he spends an estimated $100 per week in transportation. For food, Wells didn’t have an estimate but said he eats out regularly. “That’s a luxury that I have,” he said. “At least for seven days, I’ll be far more mindful.”

The Councilmember voted in favor of a minimum wage hike to $11.50 by 2016, with future hikes determined by the Consumer Price Index, and supports a ballot initiative that would require a minimum wage of $12.50 by 2017.

Wells called the Council’s vote “progress,” but said “We face foes like Mayor Gray who opposed the increase and indexing.”

With a budget of $38, Wells picked up a head of lettuce, a cucumber and two packages of deli meat inside the Safeway. His total came to $36.26. He had to pass on a bag of carrots.