San Mateo County leaders on Tuesday were expected to vote on a proposal to allocate funds that would help farmworkers displaced by the Half Moon Bay mass shooting.
The county Board of Supervisors was set to meet Tuesday and vote on the $750,000 funding proposal to pay for emergency housing for the farmworkers who lived at the mushroom farms where a man shot and killed seven people last month.
As part of the proposal, the supervisors will consider entering contracts with organizations to provide both the housing and support services until March 1, 2024. The money would come from the American Rescue Plan Act and outside donations.
Half Moon Bay Mayor Deborah Penrose told NBC Bay Area all displaced farmworkers have been placed in semi-permanent housing through Airbnb.
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"I can tell you that this has brought to light the horrendous conditions that our farmworkers are living under," Penrose said. "And when you consider that they are working for minimum wage to put food on our tables, and we go to restaurants and pay $12 or $20 for a lunch or a dinner -- they are not getting that money, farmworkers do not get that money. It doesn’t trickle down, so we need to do something to make their living conditions better and increase their amount of income."
On Monday, San Mateo County launched a task force to help all farmworkers who live on site in housing provided by their employer. The county says the task force will make sure farmers are following local and state rules and regulations in attempt to avoid the squalid conditions farmworkers were living in at the farms in Half Moon Bay.
