Half Moon Bay, California – Nearly a year and a half after a mass shooting took the lives of seven farmworkers in the California town of Half Moon Bay, a new project seeks to address the poor living conditions experienced by many of the region’s farmworkers.
On Tuesday, the city’s planning commission approved a proposal for a 40-unit building that will provide housing for elderly farmworkers, some of whom continue to work into their 70s and 80s due to low wages and the high cost of life.
The decision was made after the 2023 shooting sparked protests over the dilapidated housing available to Half Moon Bay farmworkers.
Politicians who visited the site after the bloodshed, including Governor Gavin Newsom, noted that some farm workers were even living in shipping containers.
“After the shooting, all eyes were on Half Moon Bay, and politicians and the community rallied around our farmworkers,” said Belinda Hernandez Arriaga, founder of the group Ayudando Latinos A Sonar (ALAS), which provides support and services to local rural workers. .
But before being approved this week, plans for the five-story building faced backlash from urban planners, who raised concerns about whether the structure would fit in with the style and character of the surrounding area.
That setback dampened optimism that the shooting, perpetrated by a 67-year-old former farm worker, could result in much-needed assistance to the farmworker community.
Migrants make up the vast majority of California’s farmworkers and are often paid minimum wage for their hard work, despite the state leading the nation in the value of crops sold.
According to the California government, agriculture is a $54 billion industry in the state, with an additional $100 billion in related commerce.
Faced with the possibility of rejection, the housing proposal only moved forward after media scrutiny and pressure from the governor’s office.
Governor Newsom, who has taken a tough stance against cities that impede efforts to build housing during the state’s housing crisis, has hinted at potential legal action against Half Moon Bay over the delay.
In a press release last week, Newsom called the project’s delay “egregious” and said the state would take “all necessary measures” if it was not approved.
Some local authorities, however, were angered by what they saw as undue intervention in local planning decisions.
“It felt like an attack on our planning commission and our community development process,” Joaquin Jimenez, the city’s mayor and former farmworker advocate, told Al Jazeera, adding that the project was going through an approval process with the community contribution.
Jiménez also said he felt the issue was unfairly portrayed in media coverage.
But affordable housing advocates say the incident illustrates the numerous obstacles to building new homes in a state where property owners and planning boards often argue over issues such as building heights and parking.
“The fact that the governor had to get involved to push this over the edge is shocking,” said Ned Resnikoff, policy director at California YIMBY.
His group’s name is an acronym for its mission: “Yes in My Backyard” (YIMBY) is a popular rallying cry for housing advocates who reject a restrictive approach to construction sometimes called “Not in My Backyard.” or NIMBY.
Resnikoff pointed to the stalled Half Moon Bay project — and Governor Newsom’s response — as indicative of a larger trend in the state. “It’s a perfect illustration of why the state has become more involved in local land use decisions.”
Local farmworker advocates like Arriaga also welcomed the intervention.
“After the shooting, Governor Newsom met with farmworkers and told them he would stand up for them and work to resolve this issue,” she said. “He is keeping his promise by not attacking the city.”
Essential Workers
In recent years, farmworkers in and around Half Moon Bay have faced a series of tragedies and challenges to their livelihoods.
Many workers helped keep the state’s agricultural sector afloat during the onset of COVID-19, continuing to work while other industries closed. Since many were undocumented, they faced the economic consequences of the pandemic with less access to assistance programs.
Wildfires and flooding in the area have also caused work stoppages or loss of housing.
“There were things like the fires and the floods that were mentally and emotionally draining, and then there was this mass shooting,” Arriaga said. “There was a lot of trauma in the community.”
The average hourly wage for a California farm worker is about $20 per houraccording to the state Department of Employee Development.
In some counties, however, that figure is closer to $15 an hour, and advocates are quick to point out that many workers’ undocumented status leaves them vulnerable to wage theft when employees compensate workers at a rate lower than your official salary.
A 2022 report (PDF) by the University of California at Merced (UC Merced) found that nearly one in five California farmworkers reported not receiving the wages they earned.
California is also home to some of the most expensive housing markets in the U.S., with costs exceeding wages. According to the California government, rent has increased by 20 percent or more in some parts of the state since 2020.
To cope with high rental costs, agricultural workers often cram themselves into cramped, dilapidated housing in an effort to save money.
“It is extremely common for farmworkers to live with multiple people in an apartment, with some sharing bedrooms and others finding seats in the living room,” said Lucas Zucker, co-executive director of the group Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE). . , which works with farmworker communities in California’s Central Coast region.
He notes that the UC Merced study found that about 25 percent of the state’s farmworkers reported sleeping in a room with three or more people, and nearly 40 percent reported having trouble keeping their homes cool during periods of hot weather.
“Imagine spending the day doing this strenuous work in the fields and coming home exhausted, to a house where there is no space for you, or being a child trying to study and do homework.”
Arriaga hopes the 40-unit building, which will include an office to help connect residents to services like medical care, can offer other cities a model for supporting farmworkers.
“We spoke to a man who has worked in the field for 30 years and has never had a doctor’s appointment,” she said. “We need to stop and consider this community that deserves dignified and humane housing that honors them.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
