“Farmworker housing”

Monterey Herald, May 17, 2024

Farmworker housing is almost by definition a place that is very affordable or provided for free by the employer. But that is not what Governor Newsom has in mind. In your article “Newsom threatens Half Moon Bay with legal action for holding up farmworker housing,” something is being ignored — the cost.

The project calls for a 40-unit farmworker project that will cost $43 million. That is $1 million per housing unit, making it sound more like a project of 40 mansions.  And who is going to pay for this extravaganza? Well, I suspect mostly the taxpayers. So, why is all of the fuss being lavished on farmworkers and their new units? Sure, they will get nice expensive rooms, but taxpayers will get the inevitable shaft?

— Lawrence Samuels, Carmel