Lawmakers Frustrated on Migrant Housing

Despite strong support from several Republican legislators, the Deukmejian Administration continues to resist efforts to spend state money on housing for migrant farm workers who now live in caves and makeshift shelters in San Diego County, lawmakers say.

An Administration spokeswoman, however, says the state is prepared to build housing for homeless field workers in North County but has found little support for the idea among local officials.

The result is that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of workers continue to live in squalor not far from some of Southern California’s wealthiest neighborhoods.

Seed Money Vetoed

Gov. George Deukmejian last month vetoed $500,000 earmarked in the budget passed by the Legislature as seed money for a project to provide 100 housing units for North County farm workers and their families.

Then, last week, Assemblyman Robert Frazee (R-Carlsbad) dropped legislation that would have required the construction of as many as 500 units. Frazee said he abandoned the bill because it was clear Deukmejian did not support it.

Richard Ledford, Frazee’s top aide, said in an interview that Frazee was frustrated by what Ledford termed a “gross misunderstanding of the issue” on the part of the Deukmejian Administration.

“Not everyone in North San Diego County is out to throw mud at people with Hispanic surnames,” Ledford said. “We’ve got a population of migrant workers and many live in abysmal conditions. These are not just illegal immigrants we’re talking about. Mr. Frazee thinks this was the first step in addressing some of the legitimate needs of these people.”

Other North County lawmakers who are normally staunch supporters of the Republican governor also said in recent interviews that they think Deukmejian is giving short shrift to a serious problem.

“Obviously, the governor doesn’t think that we should put money into this,” said Assemblyman Bill Bradley (R-San Marcos), who has authored several bills over the years aimed at providing more housing for farm workers in his district. “I guess that’s his policy--hands off.”

Bradley said he suspects that the Administration has not endorsed the idea because “Republicans historically have been anti-social programs, and this is considered a social program.”

Sen. William Craven (R-Oceanside), who has also carried legislation on the topic, said he believes the state should do more to “lend a hand” to help solve the problem.

“They (state officials) seem to speak with considerable pride about the agricultural prowess of the state,” Craven said. “But that prowess is produced in no small measure by field workers who have to find some place to live. I think it’s very bad to have people living in automobiles, which, unfortunately, some of these poor souls have to do.

“Within a few miles of where I live, I have people who live in holes in the ground,” Craven said. “I think that’s terrible.”

Reason for Veto

Deukmejian said he vetoed the $500,000 from the state budget because it would have been an “improper” use of funds from a pot of money that is supposed to be used to refurbish existing housing, not construct new buildings.

Julie Stewart, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Housing and Community Development, said it is “not so” that the Administration has been dragging its feet on finding a solution to the problem.

Stewart said the housing department, under a bill authored several years ago by Bradley, is building 100 units for farm workers in Riverside County. She said the state is prepared to do the same in San Diego County but has had little help from local officials in finding land on which to build the project.

“This is not necessarily the state’s fault,” Stewart said. “In order to build these facilities, we need cooperation from the local community. San Diego County has not come forward with any major interest to date.”

Currently, the state owns 27 migrant worker centers with a total of 2,100 units. Almost all of the centers are on donated land in the Central and Salinas valleys.

The centers are built as duplexes with each unit having from one to three bedrooms as well as a kitchen and bath. Most have heating and air conditioning. The occupants are charged a nominal rent.

Obstacles in the Way

John Craven, manager of the housing division for the county Department of Housing and Community Development, said there are several obstacles blocking the county from becoming an eager participant in the state program.

One, he said, is the state’s design for the worker housing centers, which he described as “scant, at best.” He said the buildings would not be welcomed by residents living near the proposed site of such a center.

Craven, who is not related to the senator, said land is not available for state-subsidized housing because of high property values in North County.

“Any land available for residential development in North County will be developed as residential units for something other than farm labor,” he said.

Even if the land were available, Craven said, the county would be reluctant to participate in the state program because it requires that the housing be vacant for six months of the year. Stewart said that regulation ensures that the housing is used for migrant laborers, not permanent workers.

‘Strikes Me as a Sin’

“The thought of building affordable housing and then letting it lie fallow for six months out of the year strikes me as a sin,” Craven said.

He added: “It’s a tremendous problem. It really is. There are no easy solutions.”

The county recently gave final approval to a private project by Singh Farms of Oceanside to build 352 dormitory-style units for that company’s workers. Although the Singh project is opposed by some farm labor activists who see it as a way for the company to import so-called “guest workers” from Mexico, others see it as a progressive first step and evidence that the agricultural industry will cooperate in trying to solve the worker housing crisis.

Ledford, Assemblyman Frazee’s aide, said a more aggressive posture on the part of state officials would enable them to find other farm owners willing to participate. He said the state needs to be more flexible in treating San Diego County’s problems differently from those in other parts of the state, particularly the Central Valley.

“It’s not a question of inadequate housing, it’s a question of no housing,” he said. “The rest of the state is worried about rehabilitating housing. We’re worried about building housing. We haven’t got any.”