I've been spending a lot of time reading articles from our archives about the nasty freezes of 1998 and 1990-91. It seems important to look back at what we did right and wrong in those months in the hope that we might learn something from that devastating experience. What do you remember from the Big Chills of 1998 and 1990-91? What advice would you give from that experience to make things work better this time?
It was good to read in today's Bee that many farmers wised up and bought insurance after that bad experience, but that won't help the thousands of employees who will be most affected by the crisis. The unemployment glitches from previous years are improved and temporary assistance is being provided so people aren't afraid that working will endanger their benefits. Lindsay, which was hammered by previous freezes, is moving to get job training money that would enable citrus workers to work on projects in city parks and alleys. That's a good way to keep the labor force in town and have the city improved in the meantime. Empowering the labor force with new job skills and reinforcing the community's infrastructure beats writing out unemployment checks to folks who would much prefer to be working.
There are headlines in the files like "Many Pantries Nearly Depleted" because of all the unemployed citrus workers who suddenly looked to food banks because there were no paychecks to feed their families. That's a reminder to make those donations now, because we will soon be looking at a disaster that could affect tens of thousands of people, as we wrote back in 1991. The welfare offices will be overrun and county budgets will be strained. In terms of economic damage, the last freeze ranked as the third worst disaster in the state's history, behind the San Francisco and Loma Prieta earthquakes. There are also ancillary businesses that you wouldn't even expect to be affected by the freeze, such as trucking and containers, irrigation equipment suppliers were very hard hit, cardboard box companies laid off people, grocery stores felt the pinch of families moving or cutting their budgets, clothing stores and restaurants saw drastic drops in receipts because their customers were suddenly unemployed.
Unemployment had to be extended, the waiting period for unemployment shortened, public utility companies were asked to provide assistance to people affected by the freeze. Insurance companies were hammered with claims far beyond the farms. California sustained $1 million in physical damages to public facilities and $80 million in claims were filed with insurance companies for physical damages in the private sector. Though the citrus industry has most of the attention, the strawberry, avocado and flower businesses also were affected. Sales tax revenue also dropped, which had many unintended consequences.
The stories of the time also reflected some difficulties in communicating to the urban legislators the severity of the problem. The city folks took awhile to get it. Most of the attention was focused on helping out the businesses that were affected and farm worker advocates had to speak out to remind people not to overlook the farmworkers in the relief process. We hope accommodations can be made so the immigrants are not punished in their citizenship process for asking for help during the freeze crisis.
Share your advice. What needs to be done to make things work better this time?
I don't have any good advice, but it sounds like legislators and citizens are doing better-- remembering what worked last time (and what didn't), and getting things rolling sooner.
For example, the bill to allow people to earn more while remaining on unemployment should help farmers clear their fields while not punishing farm workers who help out.
I've livec here six years. Ihave been told similar things have happened in 1990 and '98 so about every 8-10 years something like this can or does happen. Is this like helping the people who continue to rebuid in the same place after they have been devestated by floods? This has happened before and often enough that these folks should be properly insured.Are bills introduced and outreaches started everytime a company has a smilar layoff ? Taxpayers are already subsidizing farmers ranchers and growers.Sure they want the illegals to be taken care of, they don't want them to leave. They want them here when they need them.Let all the outreaches,foodbanks,welfare,taxpayers etc.. pick up the slack while they cash their insurance and government checks. I doubt that I will see any of these folks second homes go up for sale here in Shaver.I understand that these folks provide food and jobs but they are businesses and this is similar to a big layoff and the effects it has on an area. The accountability for all the programs and handouts will be non-existant and the cost to the taxpayer deemed unimportant. I couldn't eat enough fruit in my lifetime.