Letters to the editor: Safety concerns for farmworker housing plan; fixing Prop. 19
A safety hazard for farmworkers
This is concerning the town hall meeting organized by builder AMCAL on Nov. 9, 2023, concerning its massive Ventura Ranch Low Income Housing Proposal. We have many safety concerns and hoped to get answers.
I can’t tell you how disappointed and disrespected we felt when we were offered only two minutes each to speak .and were cut off immediately at two minutes. We were expecting to receive answers to our questions, but unfortunately, they refused to address them. It was quite frustrating, to say the least.
Additionally, during the meeting, they boasted about their accomplishments and how invincible they are, which only served to further undermine our concerns. They have been using our objections as NIMBYism to discredit us, but anyone with a rational mind should be able to see through their tactics. It’s evident that their main focus is not the well-being of the farmworkers, but rather the financial benefits that come with building housing in their name. If they genuinely cared about the farmworkers, they would prioritize their safety, which they have failed to do.
The decision to build at 4884 N. Ventura Ave clearly disregards farmworker housing safety standards, as we have highlighted in our letters to Matt LaVere and John Novi, as well as through public comment. We will continue fighting for our rights and for the safety of our hardworking farmworkers, who deserve affordable housing in a secure environment, free from fire hazards, earthquake faults, inadequate infrastructure, and wildlife dangers. Hopefully, AMCAL will reconsider and search for a property in a safer location for their housing proposal.
Steve Bostock, Ventura
Let’s fix Proposition 19
We are quickly approaching the Jan. 16 deadline to submit signatures and qualify an initiative for the November 2024 ballot in order to repeal the provisions of Proposition 19 that increase property taxes after intergenerational transfers of real property. Prior to the narrow passage in 2020 (51.1%) children had the long held right to retain the previously assessed value of inherited property, rather than having it reassessed at current market value.
Prop. 19 was marketed as the “Property Tax Transfers, Exemptions, and Revenue for Wildfire Agencies and Counties Amendment,” with no mention of inheritance in the title. It was pure gentrification marketed under the guise of “equity” and heavily backed by the California Association of Realtors and the California Professional Firefighters who used misleading tactics by focusing their campaign on the value transfer provisions and on Prop. 19’s expressed intent to raise funds to combat wildfires. The former group were clearly motivated by increased liquidity in the market and the resulting commissions to line their pockets.
At a time when even the most modest middle-class homes in Ventura County are selling for over $1 million, one of the unintended consequences is that many children who inherit these properties cannot afford to keep them because the reassessed taxes are unaffordable. Due to lack of affordability, children who have moved back into their childhood homes to care for their ailing parents or inherited homes well into retirement age are getting kicked out because they can’t afford the new tax bill. There are many Ventura County families living in intergenerational households just to make ends meet at a time when it has never been more expensive just to survive in California.
If you love your children, please download and return the petition.
Alan Garner, Camarillo
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Letters: Safety concerns for farmworker housing plan; fixing Prop. 19
