SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Mateo County has created a new task force to crack down on subpar farmworker housing, a response to a mass shooting at two Half Moon Bay mushroom farms that cast a national spotlight on workers living in leaky shacks and shipping containers without usable kitchens or bathrooms.
The county announced the new task force Monday, and said it would be dedicated to finding farms that operate workforce housing without the proper permits. Officials have admitted they don’t know how many such operations may exist, though a 2017 census counted 241 total farms in the county.
“We understand many farmers and ranchers in the county are doing things the right way, providing legally permitted farmworker housing,” County Supervisor Ray Mueller said in a news release. “But the goal must be 100% compliance, to find those living in the shadows, who need help. This work will ensure that every farmworker is living in a safe, healthy, and legally permitted home.”
A shooting rampage at Terra Garden farm and Concord Farms in Half Moon Bay left seven farmworkers dead on Jan. 23. Chunli Zhao, who lived and worked at Terra Garden, has been charged with the killings.
After images, interviews and documents revealed abysmal, unpermitted living conditions at both farms, an investigation by this news organization found laws meant to ensure safe, healthy homes for farmworkers went unenforced in San Mateo County.
Up until now, the county’s strategy had been to rely on complaints in order to identify unpermitted farmworker housing. But experts say complaint-based enforcement is largely ineffective because farmworkers are reluctant to draw attention to poor living conditions. Many workers are undocumented and are afraid of deportation if they speak out. They also worry about losing their jobs and their homes.
The new task force will respond to complaints, but it also will include a survey of every farm in the county to determine if each farm is housing workers, and if so, if it is doing so correctly, Mueller said in an interview.
“It’s going to take time to go ahead and do this,” he said, “but at the end of this process we’re going to have addressed it for the entire county and our agriculture community will be much stronger going forward.”
The task force’s goal will be voluntary compliance, Mueller said, and they are starting by asking farms to tell them if they have housing on the premise. Farms that don’t cooperate will be subject to a higher level of scrutiny, he said.
“If they want to come into compliance, we will work with them,” County Executive Mike Callagy said in the news release. “If not, we will use all of the tools available to us to ensure these members of our community have safe and healthy housing. We simply cannot delay.”
The taskforce will be comprised of the county’s planning and building, environmental health and agriculture/weights and measures departments, as well as the county and district attorney’s offices.
Even as the county starts work investigating other farms, it has to continue to take care of the workers displaced by last month’s two mass shootings. All 37 people, who had been staying in a motel since the tragedy, have since been moved into temporary housing, Mueller said. The Board of Supervisors is set to vote Tuesday on a proposal that would set aside $750,000 to pay for their housing needs for the next year.
Terra Garden has said it will build new housing on its premise, in cooperation with the county. Construction is expected to take a year.
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