NAPA VALLEY (California) REGISTER

April 11, 2007

Housing agency hopes for all-time highs at farmworker camps

By JULISSA McKINNON
Register Staff Writer

The Napa Valley Housing Authority continued to somersault down the road of change Monday afternoon, as the board of directors launched a major well-drilling project and pondered future budgetary uncertainties.

The fast pace is just a sign of the times for a housing agency preparing to transfer its biggest responsibility — operation of the farmworker housing centers — to the county.

But the housing authority is not exactly washing its hands of all farmworker center business, at least not immediately.

On Monday the board of directors recommended the approval of the 2007-08 budget they helped draft for the farmworker centers, passing it along to the newly activated Napa County Housing Authority for final approval despite some unanswerable questions.

One concern raised by board members Bonnie Schoch and Brad Wagenknecht was that the budget’s predicted revenues may be overly optimistic, because the expected occupancy rates of the centers is higher than the actual rates.

The California Human Development Corporation — the non-profit agency that staffs and runs the centers — forecast figures based on 78 percent occupancy of the centers. That rate is higher than the centers have ever had historically. At the end of February, the centers were logging a 61 percent occupancy.

But leaders of the CHDC said they believe the centers will experience greater success this year because they are freshly remodeled and for the first time the CDHC is budgeting some money — about $5,000 — for marketing and advertising the farmworker housing.

The CHDC has also agreed to absorb half of the budget shortfall if the projected revenues prove to be too high.

“Although we questioned the occupancy and their budget is based on that, if they go out and advertise, it will be a great test to see if they can get that,” Schoch said.

Meanwhile, the board acknowledged that several variables affecting occupancy at the centers are out of their control.

Some believe the tightening of security along the U.S.-Mexico border is slowing the flow of laborers into California.

“The issue of the border is so volatile, we’re betting we can do it,” said Judith Tiller, who helps manage the River Ranch Farmworker Center, regarding the projected occupancy.

Board member John Dunbar questioned the prudence of shooting for higher occupancy in the same year that the housing authority would be raising the daily rent at the farmworker center a quarter to $11.75  — a price that includes three meals a day.

Luis Flores, a former farmworker who frequents the housing authority meetings to lobby on behalf of farmworkers, voiced intense opposition to the proposed 25 cent a night increase, questioning whether the board members could really fathom how much a quarter is worth to a farmworker.

Flores quoted a report that said 86 percent of the county’s farmworkers earn less than $16,000 for seven to 12 months of work.

“Tell me the last time one of you had to meet the needs of a home budget on less than $16,000, including taking care of yourself and your own rent on top of that,” Flores said.

Board member Harold Moskowite, who employs farmworkers for his vineyard, challenged Flores’ argument that a quarter increase in the farmworker lodging was too much.

“There’s such a thing as no free lunches. The farmworkers are getting three meals a day. I don’t think they have anything to complain about, I think it’s reasonable,” Moskowite said. “I hire them and a good worker doesn’t get less than $12 an hour.”

Despite qualms raised about the rent increase and projected farmworker center occupancy, the NVHA board gave the 2007-08 budget a unanimous thumbs up. Essentially the NVHA board approval is little more than a nod to the Napa County Housing Authority, the newly activated agency that will ultimately approve the budget and dealing with all farmworker operations for 2007-08.

The budget must be in place before county workers can go out and assess exactly how much each grower would be paying into a farmworker housing operation fund (CSA 4) should the growers vote to continue taxing themselves about $10 an acre a year for this cause.

The Napa County Housing Authority plans to approve a final budget in early May. Growers are scheduled to receive their ballots in late May or early June.

“If the CSA 4 doesn’t pass we won’t have any farmworker housing,” board member Gary Kraus said at one point during Monday’s meeting.

Meanwhile, NVHA has worked to gain grant money for work done last year at the Rutherford farmworker center.

For the NVHA to receive a $775,000 state grant for the Rutherford remodel, the land under the building first must be donated to the NVHA by the owner, Constellation Brands, Inc. But before the beverage corporation will donate the property, the company is requiring the NVHA to drill for its own water source rather than continuing to tap theirs.

Monday the NVHA board awarded a $58,000 well-drilling and building contract to the Napa County Public Works Department. The contract included a limit on how much the project could spill over budget — 25 percent of the original budget. The limit on change orders was a safety catch that was missing from both of the million-plus-dollar contracts for the Upvalley center renovations last year.