International Courant
Half Moon Bay, California – Almost a 12 months and a half after a mass taking pictures claimed the lives of seven farm employees within the city of Half Moon Bay, California, a brand new undertaking seeks to deal with the poor residing circumstances of many farmers within the space. staff.
On Tuesday, the town’s planning fee authorized a proposal for a 40-unit constructing that can function housing for aged farm employees, a few of whom proceed to work into their 70s and 80s due to low wages and skyrocketing prices of residing.
The choice comes after the 2023 taking pictures sparked outrage over the dilapidated housing obtainable to Half Moon Bay’s farmworkers.
Politicians visiting after the bloodshed, together with Governor Gavin Newsom, famous that some farmworkers have been even residing in delivery containers.
“After the taking pictures, all eyes have been on Half Moon Bay, and politicians and the neighborhood rallied round our farmworkers,” mentioned Belinda Hernandez Arriaga, founding father of the group Ayudando Latinos A Sonar (ALAS), which gives help and providers to native farmworkers . .
Advocates say farm employees in California work in troublesome circumstances, typically for low wages (File: Terry Chea/AP Photograph)
However earlier than it was adopted this week, plans for the five-storey constructing confronted backlash from metropolis planners who raised considerations about whether or not the constructing would slot in with the type and character of the encircling space.
That setback dampened optimism that the taking pictures, carried out by a 67-year-old former farm employee, might lead to much-needed aid for the farmworker neighborhood.
Migrants make up the overwhelming majority of California’s agricultural employees, and they’re typically paid the minimal wage for back-breaking labor, regardless of the state main the nation within the worth of crops bought.
In accordance with the California authorities, agriculture is a $54 billion business within the state, with one other $100 billion in associated commerce.
Confronted with the opportunity of rejection, the housing proposal solely moved ahead after media scrutiny and strain from the governor’s workplace.
Governor Newsom, who has taken a tricky line on cities that hinder efforts to construct housing throughout the state’s housing disaster, hinted at potential authorized motion in opposition to Half Moon Bay over the delay.
In a information launch final week, Newsom known as the undertaking’s delay “egregious” and mentioned the state would take “all essential steps” if it isn’t authorized.
California Governor Gavin Newsom delivered remarks following a taking pictures in Half Moon Bay on January 24, 2023 (File: Aaron Kehoe/AP Photograph)
Nevertheless, some native officers chafed at what they noticed as extreme interference in native planning choices.
“It felt like an assault on our planning fee and our neighborhood growth course of,” Joaquin Jimenez, the town’s mayor and a former advocate for farmworkers, instructed Al Jazeera, including that the undertaking had gone by way of an approval course of with neighborhood enter .
Jimenez additionally mentioned he felt the difficulty was unfairly portrayed in media reporting.
However reasonably priced housing advocates say the incident illustrates the quite a few obstacles to constructing new housing in a state the place householders and planning boards typically bicker over considerations reminiscent of constructing peak and parking.
“The truth that the governor needed to intervene to get this over the road is surprising,” mentioned Ned Resnikoff, coverage director on the group California YIMBY.
His group’s identify is an acronym for its mission: “Sure in my yard” (YIMBY) is a well-liked rallying cry for housing advocates who reject a restrictive method to constructing, generally known as “not in my yard” or NIMBY.
Resnikoff pointed to the stalled Half Moon Bay undertaking — and Governor Newsom’s response — as indicative of a bigger development within the state. “It is an ideal illustration of why the state has turn out to be more and more concerned in native land use choices.”
Native farmworker advocates like Arriaga additionally welcomed the intervention.
“After the taking pictures, Governor Newsom met with farmworkers and instructed them he would advocate for them and work to deal with this drawback,” she mentioned. “He retains his promise and doesn’t assault the town.”
Important employees
In recent times, farmworkers in Half Moon Bay and the encircling space have confronted a collection of tragedies and challenges to their livelihoods.
Many employees helped preserve the state’s agricultural sector functioning throughout the outbreak of COVID-19, persevering with to work as different industries closed their doorways. As a result of many have been undocumented, they confronted the financial fallout from the pandemic and had much less entry to help applications.
Wildfires and floods within the space additionally brought about disruptions to their work or lack of properties.
“There have been issues just like the fires and the floods that have been mentally and emotionally draining, after which there was the mass taking pictures,” Arriaga mentioned. “There was a variety of trauma in the neighborhood.”
Farm employees dig a drainage ditch to maintain floodwaters from protecting strawberry crops because the Salinas River overflows in Monterey County, California, on January 13, 2023 (File: Noah Berger/AP Photograph)
The common hourly wage of a farm employee in California is approx $20 per hourin accordance with the state’s Worker Growth Division.
In some provinces, nevertheless, that determine is nearer to $15 per hour, and advocates are fast to level out that many employees’ undocumented standing makes them weak to wage theft, when employees compensate employees at a price decrease than their official wages.
A 2022 report (PDF) from the College of California at Merced (UC Merced) discovered that almost one in 5 agricultural employees in California reported not receiving the wages they deserved.
California can be residence to a number of the costliest housing markets within the US, with prices exceeding wages. In accordance with the California authorities, the lease is with 20 per cent or extra in some elements of the state since 2020.
To deal with excessive rental prices, farmworkers typically transfer into cramped, dilapidated housing in an effort to save cash.
“It is rather frequent for farmworkers to dwell in an condominium with a number of individuals, with some sharing a room and others discovering house in the lounge,” mentioned Lucas Zucker, co-executive director of the group Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Financial system ( CAUSE). , which works with farmworker communities in California’s Central Coast area.
He notes that the UC Merced survey discovered that about 25 p.c of farmworkers within the state reported sleeping in a room with three or extra individuals, and almost 40 p.c reported problem conserving their properties cool in periods of heat climate.
“Think about spending your day doing this strenuous work within the fields and coming residence exhausted to a home the place you don’t have any house for your self, or being a baby making an attempt to check and do homework.”
Arriaga hopes the 40-unit constructing, which is able to embrace an workplace to attach residents to providers reminiscent of medical care, can present different cities with a template for supporting farmworkers.
“We spoke to a gentleman who has been working within the fields for 30 years and has by no means had a medical appointment,” she mentioned. “We should cease and take into consideration this neighborhood that deserves dignified and humane housing that honors them.”
California farmworkers applaud new housing in metropolis scarred by mass shootings | Housing Information
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