Over the holidays, Woodmark Apartments, which was supposed to be reserved for farmworkers, was discreetly opened to the general public and is now fully leased out. Farmworker advocates are furious.
This is absolutely outrageous! Sebastopol didn't have a say in approving this development. It met certain criteria and had to be approved. The fact that they haven't complied with their mandate is abominable. The City needs to follow this more closely and should have intervened when it came to light, months ago that they weren't able to find farmworkers to apply for the units
Terrific reporting! Thanks for keeping the public's eyes on the developer's phony pitch for public funding and its objectively racist failure to fulfill its obligations to the farmworker community.
Thanks, Laura, for supplying us with informed, factual reporting. Your commitment to digging deeper and providing answers to the questions that lay under the question shines a light into the heart of the matter. And I am grateful for that.
As someone who has lived on Robinson Road since I was 5 (1954), I have witnessed the landscape of change in Sebastopol fairly often. Each time has brought a new look to the area and a new group of citizens who have expanded our perspectives, sometimes in spite of our collective consternation about the changes wrought.
I am hopeful that if we who are concerned about the possible misuse of housing remain diligent we can shine enough light on the issue to ensure that farm workers are the only folks housed in the 36 units yet to be built. In the meantime, let’s make sure that we do not blame the residents in the current 48 units. They are also low income families. Let’s welcome them even as we deal with the situation.
Not surprising. This is how kleptocracies work. I would like to see a diversity breakdown of those new residents. Sebastopol is a very racist place. There is rampant racism at Analy High School. I know because as a white man I raised a biracial daughter and saw how she was treated.
I just substantially increased my subscription level at Sebastopol Times. This reporting is incredibly valuable in a post truth world. If you can, subscribe, increase your subscription level or gift a subscription to someone who can benefit. I have no connection to the Sebastopol Times except as a very grateful subscriber. So many news local news organizations have been gutted, bought out by big corporations and nationalized rather than focusing local news. Let's make sure this local treasure thrives.
Unfortunately this result is not a surprise. Developers have been feeding at the public trough since there were developers. Lies and deceptions in this case has resulted in $16,000,000 of our tax dollars no longer available to the people who need them.
Wow this is 1) incredible reporting and 2) absolutely infuriating. Sounds like someone needs to lose their job over this lack of follow through and poor effort to get farm workers housed. We all like to think we support agriculture but this type of thing is where the rubber meets the road. Farm workers and their families need places to live, with dignity. This is what I thought was happening at this development and I was proud that it was in our town. What a shame!
It also begs the question- where did they source the list for open to, “everybody?” That needs to be dug into. If relationships exist with the workers of the site and company, and the tenants who get to live there, that may well rise to “against the rules” behavior.
Great article Laura. I wonder how Membrila, Guzman and others might be notified when applications are open, and what would need to happen to have Woodmark held accountable if they don’t notify effective outreach organizations. Who made the decision to open applications to non-farm workers, and who is influencing them? I don’t see a lot of Mexicans living in Sebastopol and wouldn’t be surprised if there were some back-room racism weighing the scales against them.
Shouldn't the city of Sebastopol get at least a large part of the funds these scammers received? Shouldn't the city activate itself and start a legal action????
They couldn't find farmworker families but they could rapidly find 48 low income families and rent all of the units. Something doesn't ring true in this statement. However, a friend of a friend is one of the new tenants and they are indeed low income and the apartment is a terrific find for that family. If all of the new renters are indeed low income families, how did they find their way and not the farmworker families?
Has Jared Huffman been informed <https://huffman.house.gov/> about this outcome. This move on the part of the agency that procured funding to build Woodmark needs to be reported at the federal level. This isn't just underhanded, it's down right criminal.
This is absolutely outrageous! Sebastopol didn't have a say in approving this development. It met certain criteria and had to be approved. The fact that they haven't complied with their mandate is abominable. The City needs to follow this more closely and should have intervened when it came to light, months ago that they weren't able to find farmworkers to apply for the units
Terrific reporting! Thanks for keeping the public's eyes on the developer's phony pitch for public funding and its objectively racist failure to fulfill its obligations to the farmworker community.
Thank you for keeping a spotlight on this. This is a travesty.
Excellent reporting!
Thanks, Laura, for supplying us with informed, factual reporting. Your commitment to digging deeper and providing answers to the questions that lay under the question shines a light into the heart of the matter. And I am grateful for that.
As someone who has lived on Robinson Road since I was 5 (1954), I have witnessed the landscape of change in Sebastopol fairly often. Each time has brought a new look to the area and a new group of citizens who have expanded our perspectives, sometimes in spite of our collective consternation about the changes wrought.
I am hopeful that if we who are concerned about the possible misuse of housing remain diligent we can shine enough light on the issue to ensure that farm workers are the only folks housed in the 36 units yet to be built. In the meantime, let’s make sure that we do not blame the residents in the current 48 units. They are also low income families. Let’s welcome them even as we deal with the situation.
Good point about welcoming, and not blaming, the residents!
Great, thorough reporting, Laura!
Not surprising. This is how kleptocracies work. I would like to see a diversity breakdown of those new residents. Sebastopol is a very racist place. There is rampant racism at Analy High School. I know because as a white man I raised a biracial daughter and saw how she was treated.
I just substantially increased my subscription level at Sebastopol Times. This reporting is incredibly valuable in a post truth world. If you can, subscribe, increase your subscription level or gift a subscription to someone who can benefit. I have no connection to the Sebastopol Times except as a very grateful subscriber. So many news local news organizations have been gutted, bought out by big corporations and nationalized rather than focusing local news. Let's make sure this local treasure thrives.
Thanks so much for the subscription bump and your kind words!!
Unfortunately this result is not a surprise. Developers have been feeding at the public trough since there were developers. Lies and deceptions in this case has resulted in $16,000,000 of our tax dollars no longer available to the people who need them.
Wow this is 1) incredible reporting and 2) absolutely infuriating. Sounds like someone needs to lose their job over this lack of follow through and poor effort to get farm workers housed. We all like to think we support agriculture but this type of thing is where the rubber meets the road. Farm workers and their families need places to live, with dignity. This is what I thought was happening at this development and I was proud that it was in our town. What a shame!
It also begs the question- where did they source the list for open to, “everybody?” That needs to be dug into. If relationships exist with the workers of the site and company, and the tenants who get to live there, that may well rise to “against the rules” behavior.
Great article Laura. I wonder how Membrila, Guzman and others might be notified when applications are open, and what would need to happen to have Woodmark held accountable if they don’t notify effective outreach organizations. Who made the decision to open applications to non-farm workers, and who is influencing them? I don’t see a lot of Mexicans living in Sebastopol and wouldn’t be surprised if there were some back-room racism weighing the scales against them.
"What weaponized culture to dismantle the human brain".... AND HEART.
Can Sebastopol now collect taxes on this property? It should be able to.
No because it is still affordable housing
Shouldn't the city of Sebastopol get at least a large part of the funds these scammers received? Shouldn't the city activate itself and start a legal action????
They couldn't find farmworker families but they could rapidly find 48 low income families and rent all of the units. Something doesn't ring true in this statement. However, a friend of a friend is one of the new tenants and they are indeed low income and the apartment is a terrific find for that family. If all of the new renters are indeed low income families, how did they find their way and not the farmworker families?
Most of us would have bet this was going to happen. No surprise here.
Has Jared Huffman been informed <https://huffman.house.gov/> about this outcome. This move on the part of the agency that procured funding to build Woodmark needs to be reported at the federal level. This isn't just underhanded, it's down right criminal.