Nearly a year has passed since the county posted notices declaring their homes unfit for human habitation, yet the residents of the Martinelli ranch still have no place else to go. They’ve been living with anxiety and uncertainty as they wait for the county to deliver on its promise to locate dignified, affordable housing. Their patience is wearing thin, and their nerves are frayed.
Fearing that their concerns might be forgotten, more than a dozen residents invited Supervisor Dennis Rodoni to a meeting last week at the church in Point Reyes Station. For the residents—all of them Latino and unfamiliar with the mechanics of county government—the invitation felt like a big step.
They were coached by Karym Sanchez, a young community organizer with the North Bay Organizing Project, who has been working with them since January. The group has also received advice and support from Legal Aid of Marin and West Marin Community Services, whose representatives observed the meeting from the sidelines.
“My job has been to help them understand that if they want to be able to influence anything, they have to be organized and move as a unit,” Mr. Sanchez said. “What you saw at that meeting was them doing exactly that. They got themselves organized. They set the agenda. They invited the supervisor into their meeting.”
One by one, the residents went around the room reading prepared statements that conveyed the insecurity pervading the ranch since safety warnings were posted about the property’s septic system and power connections. They spoke in Spanish, and Mr. Rodoni’s aide, Fernando Barreto, interpreted.
“We really want you to take our position into account,” a resident named Amalia said. “We feel very worried and threatened, and so far, we see no solution.”
The residents had one central question for Mr. Rodoni, which was raised by a woman named Barbara. “We want to know if you are committed, in any way you can, to preventing the county from coming into our homes and inspecting them before temporary housing is available elsewhere,” she said.
When county code enforcement officers posted the health warnings last summer, they did so based on an external inspection. Residents feared that interior inspections might uncover more serious violations that could force them to leave immediately.
“As of right now, there is no inspection scheduled,” Mr. Rodoni replied. “If there were to be an inspection, we would have to ask your permission to come into your home. And if you don’t give us permission, we can’t come into your home.”
The Martinelli residents have a strong sense of community, and many wish to remain on the ranch if improvements can be made. Leaving would impose hardships on everyone—none more so than the family of Enrique Hernandez, whose 17-year-old son, Pablo, is severely disabled.
Pablo was born quadriplegic. He cannot speak or walk. His mother, Guadalupe Aparicio, brought him to the meeting in a wheelchair, and he wore a medical mask to protect his compromised immune system from potential infection.
With so little housing in West Marin, the residents fear they will be forced to leave town. “We need local housing,” said Mr. Hernandez, who guided much of the evening’s conversation. “We’ve been living on the Martinelli ranch for many, many years. We really want you to do something for us. We are the local workforce. We work in the restaurants and hotels. Moving would involve way too many changes for us. It would mean changing our health care providers. It would mean changing the people who provide us with social services and even changing the way we manage an emergency.”
For some, it would also mean changing schools.
Mr. Rodoni offered empathy but no immediate solutions, reinforcing a lesson the residents have been quickly learning: Change comes slowly in a county where zoning and environmental regulations pose abundant obstacles to new housing.
The county considers the plight of displaced citizens a top priority, Mr. Rodoni said. It is working hard to find housing for both them and the families who live in the Point Reyes National Seashore, where most ranches will soon shut down as the result of a legal settlement.
In all, some 130 people face displacement, roughly 90 from the seashore and about 40 from the Martinelli ranch.
Mr. Rodoni urged the residents to be patient. He pointed to an emergency ordinance adopted last month that declared a shelter crisis, which made it easier for the county to permit temporary housing. In addition, Marin allocated $9.4 million to the Coast Guard project, which hopes to add 54 new affordable housing units in town.
“Can you tell those of us here, living under this housing emergency, whether we will be in the Coast Guard housing or not?” Mr. Hernandez asked.
No, Mr. Rodoni replied, he could not, because federal fair housing rules allow anyone in need of housing to apply.
“I can’t guarantee anything,” he said. “I’m not the one who makes those decisions. But I can tell you that in all the affordable housing we have done in West Marin, the majority of the people who got the units were from West Marin.”
The county is working closely with nonprofits, foundations and private donors to find interim housing as quickly as possible, he said, predicting that it could be in place within six to eight months. People could remain in the temporary homes for up to five years while the county seeks permanent solutions.
“We know the Coast Guard is not the only permanent housing we need,” Mr. Rodoni said.
Meanwhile, county code enforcement officers have been butting heads with Vicki Martinelli, the ranch owner, ever since they posted warning signs last summer, pushing for temporary septic upgrades and other improvements.
County officials say many of the changes they requested have yet to be made, but they still hope to resolve the standoff without displacing tenants before alternative housing is located.
The residents beseeched Mr. Rodoni to act with urgency. “We are asking you to provide us with dignified housing for all of us,” Barbara said. “It’s not fair to live in these conditions in one of the richest states in the country. It makes no sense. Right now, we are in a house of God. As residents of Marin County and the Martinelli ranch, we are asking for a positive response.”