SPECIAL REPORT: California lawmaker pushing for more farmworker family housing

A state lawmaker from San Benito County is working to help farmworkers he says are living in “deplorable” conditions on the Central Coast.

“What we have here in this valley, in the Salinas Valley, in San Benito County, in Pajaro Valley, is we have a humanitarian crisis on our hands,” said Assemblymember Robert Rivas.

It’s a humanitarian crisis brought on by the housing crisis. Families are living in cramped conditions struggling to make ends meet including the thousands of farmworkers living on the Central Coast.

Assemblymember Robert Rivas recently introduced Assembly Bill 1783 also known as the Farmworker Housing Act of 2019. It aims to streamline the approval process for farmworker family housing.

The bill passed the Assembly on March 24th.

Rivas has a personal connection to the bill as he grew up in farmworker housing. He said his grandfather worked in a vineyard near the unincorporated community of Paicines and they lived next to the vineyard.

“As a child growing up in farmworker housing I never heard the end of my grandfather always talking to my brother and I about how this was California, that this was the greatest state in the country and this was the land of opportunity. He always spoke about the California dream and when I reflect on our two bedroom farm worker housing unit, it was very very basic, but it was decent and it gave my family the opportunity to get out of the fields and into the classroom,” said Rivas.

Rivas said that unit provided them the opportunity to live good quality lives and that is why he believes farm worker housing is important.

Rivas is now hoping his bill will bring some relief to the thousands of farmworkers and their families living on the Central Coast.

26-year-old Modesto Zeron Lopez pays close to $600 not including bills to rent an RV in East Salinas with his wife, two kids and their dog.

“When my kids are asleep in the back room sometimes my wife and I will sleep here in the bunk beds,” explained Zeron Lopez.

Modesto Zeron Lopez said he would like more space for a couch or more furniture, but he can’t afford a bigger place.

“I feel good here, but if I see another house it depends because it’s too much money.”

A few doors down from Modesto, we found Patricia Bartolo living in similar conditions with her three kids and a husband.

“I pay $550. We don’t make much money working in the fields,” said Bartolo.

According to rentcafe.com, the average rent for an apartment in Salinas is more than $1,600. That is up seven percent from last year.

It’s a price some farmworking families said they simply can’t pay.

“We live paycheck to paycheck with rent, food and bills,” said Zeron Lopez.

“We wrote the bill based on the 2018 Farm Worker Study and Housing Plan,” said Rivas.

KION sat down with Assemblymember Rivas at a caf in Hollister to find out how it would help farmworkers and their families in need of affordable housing.

“What I like about this bill is that it’s an opt-in tool, no one has to utilize it, the option would be available.”

The tool Rivas is talking about is the ability for Ag companies to be able to build permanent housing on their land without having to deal with the red tape that often comes with new construction along the California coast.

“It’s a process normally to build, annex, there are environmental impact reports and it’s expensive. That’s why we have the crisis we’re in now.”

“This is the land of opportunity, and we’ve got to get back to that.”

However, some Ag companies don’t like that the bill calls for a non-profit to manage the housing units. Norm Groot with the Monterey County Farm Bureau told KION local Ag operations say that’s a non-starter.

In a written statement, Groot said “the idea of having to build, pay for, dedicate land and own the project, but not be able to control or manage it is incongruent with basic property rights.”

Assemblymember Rivas said he understands their concerns, but said there are benefits to having third party management.

“Making sure there is no dual role between employer and landlord is something that is important to me and is certainly something that is important to local farm workers.”

“This is nothing new. I met with representatives from the County of Napa, and they’ve done a very successful job in providing work force housing for the farm workers and it’s all managed by non-profits. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, we’re just trying to provide a tool,” said Rivas.

He’s now hoping some Central Coast Ag companies will take advantage of if this bill if it is signed into law.

“This isn’t a comprehensive approach to solve this problem, but it’s a step in the right direction and once we have built a foundation, I am very excited to engage agriculture again and look for ways to address this from all other various areas of agriculture and workforce housing,” said Rivas.

Rivas said there are no mandates with this bill, companies wouldn’t be force to build and there are no penalties if they choose not to.

In East Salinas, Modesto said he’s not so sure he will have a bigger place, he’s not sure if this plan would become a reality, but he’s hopeful for a better future for his family.

“It would be much better.”

Assemblymember Rivas said he has had some interest from smaller local Ag companies. One operation said they would even consider not charging rent as an incentive to attract more workers.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

To read the entire bill click here.