More than 20 farmworker families and advocacy groups demonstrated their support for a new farmworker resource center by sharing the challenges they face during the Nov. 29 Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting.
The community members came forward as supervisors discussed applying for a new $833,000 state grant to create a resource center that would assist farmworkers in navigating public agencies, information on wage and hour laws, health and safety laws, and other legal rights, and resolve workplace disputes, according to the board letter.
“Farmworkers are a vital part of our workforce, but they are not treated with enough respect or paid sufficiently well,” Santa Barbara resident Susan Shields said in public comment. “Any resource that would provide assistance to them and their families would be hugely beneficial for their quality of life.”
With the funds, the county would set up a mobile resource center—similar to one operating in neighboring Ventura County—that would provide in-person services and travel to the farmworkers, instead of having one base in the county, according to the presentation. If the county receives the grant, supervisors would commit to a $208,250 local funding match for a total of about $1.04 million over a 14-month period from February 2023 to May 2024.
The supervisors voted 4-1 (with 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino dissenting) to move forward with the application, which is due by Dec. 21 this year.
Although Lavagnino was enthusiastic about a farmworker resource center, he expressed concerns about being intertwined with the state for funding this project and the application’s quick turnaround.
“We’re going to create a million-dollar program, and then, when the state funding runs out, we are committed to a million-plus [for] this new program,” Lavagnino said. “I think it’s a great idea; I just don’t want to partner with the state on this. … This just feels to me that we are spending ongoing funds with one-time money. ”
Instead, he suggested county staff take more time to do a deeper community needs assessment, identify more potential partners, and have a longer dialogue with farmworkers, advocacy groups, and growers.
“The problem is we are rushing to do something that we would [still] want to [do] at the end of the day,” he said. “We should have done this a long time ago, and it did get me motivated to do this—shame on me for not getting it done before.”
Although 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann agreed that the county should have done this earlier, the available grant is now the reason for an increased dialogue surrounding farmworker resources, and it’d be a shame to miss out on this funding and learning opportunity, she countered.
“I don’t think this is that complicated. I believe it’s a competitive grant and if we don’t get the grant then we’ve done a lot of good for the next budget cycle [to see] what we can do internally,” she said. “The grant provides the focus to do the work and build out a sustainable program that’s a legitimate thing. To me, this is an opportunity to get everybody’s concerns addressed and how we get staff to move forward.”
This article appears in Dec 1-8, 2022.