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Supervisors chip in $1M toward farmworker housing projects
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is exploring ways to provide more housing for farmworkers in the county, nearly four months after a mass shooting in Half Moon Bay exposed an urgent need for more living options for agricultural workers with low income.
Supervisors at a May 9 meeting approved dedicating $1 million to kickstart planning, project management and other work for dozens of manufactured housing units.
"We are 100 percent committed to this effort," Supervisor Ray Mueller said. "This $1 million represents the startup costs necessary to move forward with speed."
The money is coming from funding from Measure K, the county's half-cent sales tax. The Half Moon Bay Farmworker Project calls for placing between 45 to 50 manufactured housing units at a yet-to-be determined location in Half Moon Bay.
The county is seeking grant money from the state to help fund the plan through the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, which is designed to help farmworkers become homeowners.
Housing for farmworkers in the county became a focus for the Board of Supervisors after shootings at two farms in Half Moon Bay on Jan. 23 revealed many farmworkers living in substandard or unpermitted housing on farm sites.
The county is seeking options for long-term housing for 19 families that were displaced after the shootings.
"All of our farm working families deserve a safe and healthy place to live," Mueller said. "If we are going to ensure that we maintain a thriving agricultural community on our coast, what we need more than anything else are affordable homes for our farmworkers and their families."
Bigger fines for selling tobacco to kids
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously May 9 to strengthen regulations intended to prevent children and young adults from buying tobacco products.
The ordinance increases permit fees, fines and inspections of retail shops and requires permit suspensions for businesses that sell tobacco products to anyone younger than 21.
"We need to put teeth into enforcement for two big reasons: one is that we need to make the penalty large enough to negate the profit in selling to minors. And two, we need to do everything we can to keep cigarettes and other tobacco products out of the hands of kids," said Supervisor Warren Slocum.
The new rules, which were proposed by the San Mateo County Health Department, increase fines up to $500 for a first violation and up to $1,000 for all subsequent violations within a 60-month period and prohibit new tobacco sales permits for locations within 1,000 feet of a "youth populated area" like schools and parks or within 500 feet of an existing tobacco retailer.
They also require a fine for any violations, increase the number of required on-site inspections of shops that sell tobacco to two a year and increase the annual permit fee to sell tobacco from $174 to $672.
According to the county Health Department, 11 of 74 tobacco retailers, or about 15% of shops, in unincorporated San Mateo County sold to underage youth decoys during Sheriff's Office enforcement operations from April 2021 to June 2022.
"Big Tobacco has preyed on our youth with flavored products like bubblegum and cotton candy for years," Supervisor David Canepa said. "What we've done today is to tell our retailers that if you are caught selling to minors or selling banned flavored tobacco products you will be fined heavily."
The new ordinance only applies to unincorporated areas of the county, but county officials said in a news release May 9 they will encourage cities within the county to follow suit.
