EXCLUSIVE: Documents reveal deplorable housing conditions and bacteria in water on San Mateo County farms

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KGO) — A mass shooting at a Half Moon Bay mushroom farm has shed light on the deplorable housing conditions farmers have been living in for decades.

This tragedy prompted the creation of a San Mateo County task force that inspects farms in the county.

ABC7 News reporter Luz Pena has been covering this story for over a year and has an exclusive look at these findings.

This is the first time San Mateo County finally has a clear look at how farmworkers live. Through a public records request, we obtained exclusive photos, inspection reports and findings that this task force has been collecting for over a year.

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Over the past year, using satellite imagery, community tips and property records, the San Mateo County Task Force inspected more than 130 apartments.

There were 355 agricultural workers there. The task force found homes hidden in plain sight.

“When they were on site, they kept their eyes peeled and if there was something they felt was a house that had some health and safety issues, they were empowered to inspect it as well. We wanted to make sure that if there were housing in these areas, land, that it was safe,” Justin Mates said.

We have received task force inspection reports containing emails and photos of code violations.

We talked to Justin Mates about the arrangements. Mates is the district’s deputy director and key coordinator of the task force.

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“About 60% of all units we inspected were compliant, and approximately 40% were not compliant and required some action,” Mates said. “Our primary focus has been an ongoing farming and ranching operation that provides housing for its employees.”

We went down the list. Inspectors found many units that were not previously registered with the county. They marked buildings on several farms yellow.

“It is clear that if it has been yellowed or red, no one should live there until that correction is removed,” Mates said.

One of the farms on the list was Coast Wholesale Florists Inc. Inspectors found multiple code violations that resulted in the property owner demolishing buildings and paying tenants for relocation packages. After numerous inspections, the property was repaired.

Changes are still ongoing on many farms. One of them is the Contreras farm. There was no one to talk on camera.

Satellite imagery captured multiple structures on the property. Inspectors marked one of the units yellow. Photos show the trailer with several damages, wooden structures and mold covering the bathroom and laundry room.

Inspectors reported a total of 11 residents of various units and one minor.

“I’m sure there are other places like this, but this is unacceptable. This is completely unacceptable,” said Joaquin Jimenez, mayor of Half Moon Bay.

Mayor Jimenez knows the family that lives on the Contreras farm, but said he has never seen the inside of the buildings. Mayor Jimenez advocates providing housing for farmworkers, saying at least 1,000 farmers need housing.

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“Everyone is responsible. The owners are responsible. The people who live there are responsible. The county is responsible. The people who continue to oppose are responsible. If there were no opposition to building houses for farm workers, these living conditions would not exist, Mayor Jimenez said.

The county’s Environmental Health Service also found bacteria in the water supply at the Contreras farm. One resident was quoted as asking for another sample to be taken.

Inspectors found this problem in 36 units throughout the district.

“This was the most disturbing finding from our inspections,” Mates said. “Largely the presence of bacteria in tap water exceeding safe drinking standards.”

On the phone, a Contreras family member said they were working through the issues and confirmed they had lived in the property for several decades but did not own it.

We looked through county records and found an email in which Victor Aenlle writes, “I own the property.”

Aenlle is the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Chief of Staff.

Deputies were the first to respond to the mass shooting and witnessed the deplorable housing conditions at California Terra Garden.

We asked Aenlle if he was aware of the conditions on his property.

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In a statement he said:

“I want to clarify that the inspection in question only concerns land use on private property. I do not own or operate an agricultural business, nor do I employ any employees related to such an activity.”

Who is responsible for the district in such cases?

“If the operator was an operator other than the property owner, the property owner may be held liable. Some of our code enforcement is driven by local regulations – it holds the property owner accountable even if the property owner is not the operator,” Mates said.

We went to another place on the list, Ananda Valley Farm.

Luz Pena: – How many people live here?
David Praver: “Nearly 20 people live here. Three of the families are farmworker families who have lived here for decades, and about five people are associated with the farm.”

Inspectors reported foundation and water problems here. Staff made changes quickly.

“We wanted it done. We wanted this to be done because we wanted to live in harmony and cooperation with the district, help the residents who live here, but we also wanted to return to what is most important to us, which is agriculture,” said David Praver from Ananda Valley Farm .

RELATED: Half Moon Bay mushroom farms cited for workplace safety violations following January mass shooting

Praver said they also fixed water supply issues. “One of the other things we had to do for the county was replace the septic system.”

Mates said many property owners are compliant and looking to improve their properties.

“The vast majority of our operators provide housing that meets these basic health and safety standards, and those that do not meet them are largely making improvements to these safe standards,” Mates said.

As this community continues to mourn the mass shooting, these inspections hope to shape policies to improve housing conditions for farmworkers.

“We have a much better understanding of the state of on-farm housing for farm workers today than we did before the shooting,” Mates said.

Some of the policy ideas include proposing legislation to allow utilities to test water supplies on farms annually, legalizing more housing and making it easier to obtain building permits for farmworker housing.

There has been some opposition to more housing, but supporters say it will be the final solution.

The task force is expected to release a full report in about a month.

In response to this report, San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller released the following statement:

“My office is aware of an ABC7 Investigative News story by reporter Luz Pena that aired this evening regarding the work of the San Mateo County Farmers Housing Task Force. The report included photos and information regarding an investigation into a property located on San Coast Street in Mateo County. It is the practice of San Mateo County and my office not to comment on the details of pending enforcement actions. But overall, the images of living conditions presented in the report are horrific and heartbreaking. As an example of this, my office has worked with county officials to establish the Farmworker Housing Task Force in 2023, which will be charged with inspecting farmworker housing on every farm and ranch in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is the mission and goal of my office and the County of San Mateo to ensure that every farmworker in San Mateo County has access to safe and healthy housing.”

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