NAPA VALLEY (California) REGISTER

February 17, 2007

Farmworker housing vacancies threaten budget, jeopardize opening of renovated camps

By JULISSA McKINNON, Register Staff Writer

Even though there's no money budgeted for advertising, Angel Calderon runs fliers announcing vacancies at Napa Valley's three farmworker centers, posting them outside Mexican grocery stores and Napa laundromats, and handing them out around Clinic Ole's health fairs -- anywhere he expects farmworkers might spot them.

Calderon has personally distributed them to crews in the vineyards, now that pruning season is in full swing.

His motivation? Calderon says there's ample space in Calistoga, at one of the farmworker housing facilities he helps manage.

According to county housing authority officials, only 34 of the 60 available beds are now occupied at the Calistoga camp. With demand at Calistoga still low, officials are still deciding if and when to open the other two Upvalley farmworker camps.

Occupancy has steadily declined for the last five years at Napa Valley's Rutherford and Calistoga farmworker facilities, which the county housing authority recently refurbished at a cost of about $4.7 million. Though money has never previously been budgeted for advertising rooms at these facilities, about $3,000 is slated for this in the proposed 2007-08 budget, according to Chris Paige, deputy chief executive officer of programs for California Human Development Corporation, the nonprofit agency contracted by the county housing authority to operate the camps.

Calderon said even if no money is set aside for outreach he'll continue doing it on his personal time. If the word about the farmworker centers doesn't get out, he said, he believes dozens of farmworkers will turn to an increasingly common form of cheap shelter in Napa -- garages or sheds converted into living units. These spaces often house 10 or more people at a cost upwards of $200 a head, according to Calderon.

Stephen Jensen, the city of Napa's chief building official, confirmed that illegal garage conversions are a "growing problem" that has become a top priority for the city's building department because of health and safety issues.

Jensen said about three years ago a handful of deaths were traced to fires sparked by burning candles or cigarettes in unpermitted sheds. The likelihood of a fire sparking in an illegally converted garage is higher because they often store water heaters, which besides being hot can also leak toxic carbon monoxide, Jensen said. In 2006, his department received 18 complaints for garage conversions that were either brought up to code or removed.

Calderon said it is more economical for fieldworkers to stay at a camp for $11.50 a night, or $345 a month, including three meals a day.

That's what he tells people as he spreads the news that the centers have reopened. Last year the Mondavi and Calistoga facilities turned several people away while under construction.

But housing officials have acknowledged that factors beyond a lack of advertising may be contributing to the lull in occupancy at the farmworker centers, including tight security at the U.S.-Mexico border and more rental homes on the market in Napa.

Some members of the county Farmworker Housing Oversight Committee have said they fear occupancy at all three farmworker camps won't meet projections, which could lead to problems because the projected revenue from the camps helps determine the 2007-08 budget.

The California Human Development Corporation has estimated that occupancy will average 72 percent at Calistoga in 2007-08, 75 percent at Mondavi and 80 percent at River Ranch.

Bonnie Schoch, who serves on the oversight committee and the county housing authority's board of directors, said she thinks those numbers are too optimistic.

"That could be a real problem if you're assuming that this is the revenue we'll be receiving," she said.

Sam Turner, a committee member and also president of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers suggested the county housing authority might consider only opening two of its three camps this year to save on overhead costs due to declining use.

"Maybe we're just biting off more than we can chew here -- that's what I'm worried about," Turner said.

Sandy Elles, Napa County Farm Bureau executive director, said increasing the rent to $12 per night would annually generate about $19,000 more dollars -- a "significant amount" in a tight budget year, she said.

But Luis Flores, a self-described farmworker advocate who once worked in Napa Valley's vineyards, warned raising farmworker rents could backfire.

"Be very careful what you do," Flores said to the dozen or so members of the farmworker housing oversight committee during their last meeting. "If you decide to raise rents, what may be logical to us, may not be logical to (farmworkers). And all of a sudden you will have empty rooms."