After a mass shooting revealed derelict housing conditions at two farms, San Mateo County is working to bring violations to light.
Farmworker supervisor and mass shooting survivor, Juan Flores Lopez, pauses as he stands in front of mushroom barn #43 where two workers were killed by a co-worker last year at California Terra Garden Farms in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. The barn has remained locked since the mass shooting occurred. “I don’t feel scared for the people who died . Just memories of them who were good people,” Flores Lopez, said “They’re missed.
This neighborhood of make-shift living quarters is where mass shooting suspect Chunli Zhao, 66, lived with his wife, along with other workers, including supervisor Juan Flores Lopez, at the Terra Garden Farms in Half Moon Bay in the drone photo taken a year ago. A photo Tweeted by San Mateo County County Supervisor Ray Mueller after the fatal shooting, shows the outdoor kitchen that was shared by Jose Perez and his younger brother Pedro Perez, according to co-worker Juan Flores Lopez at the California Terra Garden Farm in Half Moon Bay. Jose was killed in the shooting and his brother was injured. “I told the owner I would be willing to make repairs to the trailer on my days off, and he always said, ‘Later,’” Flores Lopez said. “But later never arrived.
Juan Flores Lopez, right, a California Terra Garden Farms farmworkers supervisor and mass shooting survivor along with his family, from left is, Dulce, 6, Lidia, 18, Abner, 17, Juan’s wife Miriam, and Flori, 8, look on from the spacious living room at their temporary home in Moss Beach, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. The family likes the home and the view is beautiful. “We feel much better here because where we lived it was very narrow, we didn’t have space,” Miriam said.
Advocates for workers are pushing state and county officials to build more housing for workers away from farms. Inspectors have so far visited around 80 properties, finding problems at about 20% of the individual units they’ve examined, county officials said. Thewithin the next few months and wants to work with the owners to make the unlivable units habitable. County officials said they’ve so far identified about 290 workers living at local farms.
But with an immediate need to rehouse the 19 households displaced by the shooting, the county is working to gather $20 million in funding to build 49 small, manufactured homes just up the street from California Terra Garden. The workers could move in by early 2025. Part of the ceiling had fallen in Yingze Wang and Jinsheng Liu's living quarters at Concord Farms in January 2023. Three of their co-workers were killed, along with four others at California Terra Garden Farm.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Half Moon Bay planning commission reluctantly OKs senior farmworker housing— with conditionsCommissioners were under pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said he’d threaten legal action if the project wasn’t approved
Read more »
After long debate, Half Moon Bay approves farmworker housing project backed by Gov. NewsomAfter a Half Moon Bay city planning meeting stretched late into the night, a project backed by Gov. Newsom to build more housing for farmworkers is moving forward.
Read more »
Half Moon Bay planning commission approves farmworker housing downtownGovernor Newsom recently called on the commission to approve the plan after weeks of delay involving the project’s design.
Read more »
Half Moon Bay planning commission makes no decision about farmworker housingGovernor Newsom recently called on the commission to approve the plan after weeks of delay involving the project’s design.
Read more »
Political pressure mounting for Half Moon Bay to build housing for retired farmworkersThe project to build a 40-unit housing complex for retired farm workers in Half Moon Bay has become a source of frustration.
Read more »
Newsom threatens Half Moon Bay with legal action over farmworker housing delayGovernor Newsom is threatening legal action if Half Moon Bay officials don't speed efforts to build more housing for farmworkers after deplorable housing conditions were highlighted following a 2023 mass shooting.
Read more »