San Mateo Co. approves $2 million to improve housing for farmworkers
SAN MATEO COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Millions of dollars for improving farmworkers housing were approved by San Mateo County this week.
"It is a giant win for agriculture on the coast and for farmworkers on the coast," said Ray Mueller, San Mateo County supervisor.
After the 2023 mass shootings at Half Moon Bay farms, the county deployed a task force that identified deplorable housing conditions at multiple farms. Some were red-tagged, while others needed minor improvements. This is San Mateo County's initiative to expedite those improvements.
"Our agricultural economy on the coast is really suffering, and so if we are going to turn to farmers and ranchers, and we are going to say, 'Obviously, you are going to need to improve your housing.' We also need to empower them to do it," Mueller said.
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In about a month, farmers on the coast will be able to apply to get a piece of a $2 million loan that the county is making accessible to fix farmworker housing on properties. Up to 20 farms and ranchers will be able to get $100,000.
"A lot of the housing is just getting old. Kitchens need to be remodeled. The bathrooms need to be remodeled. There is just a lot of use on them. They have been used for 10 to 15 years," said John Giusti, owner of Giusti family farm.
Giusti was excited to learn about this. At least 10 farmworkers live on site. He showed us around the two locations he would like to improve and even add more housing.
"There is water and electricity for another unit and on the other side there is space for another unit," Giusti said.
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Luz Pena: "How much are you charging the farmworkers who live here?"
John Giusti: "They only pay about $5 a day for every day they work, so it comes out to not even $200 a month."
Some of the conditions of this grant is that the county will need to inspect the housing every year and make sure the conditions are good and they renting to farmworkers.
The county is going to give these farmers up to 30 years to pay the loan at 0% interest.
"The wonderful thing about it, is that if they provide that housing at a reduced rate under what affordable housing would be for a farmworker, then every amount they reduce, that rent gets paid off against the loan. So, we are incentivizing them to really provide the most affordable housing possible with the best quality of life," Mueller said.
