The Board of Supervisors appears close to agreement on aid to flood victims, but debate remains.

Members of the Board of Supervisors seem to concur that Pajaro and other flood-stricken Monterey County communities are in dire need of aid. Rey Mashayekhi here, noting that while there is agreement, what that aid should look like is still a matter of debate—one that hopefully comes to a resolution at Tuesday’s weekly meeting.

District 1 Supervisor and current Board Chair Luis Alejo has lamented the body’s lack of urgency in approving his proposed rental assistance program, which would dedicate $378,000 in county funds toward helping flood-impacted residents across the county pay their rent. The money is meant to target those who may not be eligible for government disaster relief—such as undocumented residents—or who have found such aid painfully slow to arrive. Alejo tells the Weekly that he’s heard from numerous county residents “who are still waiting” for both federal and state relief dollars to come to fruition more than six weeks after the Pajaro River flood.  “Residents needed this help yesterday,” he notes.

While the board was supposed to vote on the program at last week’s meeting, some supervisors had reservations over the proposed structure, delaying the vote.District 2 Supervisor Glenn Church, whose North County district includes Pajaro, has expressed a few concerns with Alejo’s plan. For one, he wants the money to go toward “general assistance” to help people with whatever expenses or damages they may be dealing with, and not just a “narrower” rental aid program. “In places like Pajaro, many people are out of their homes and not paying rent because their homes are not inhabitable—so a rent subsidy won’t help,” Church tells the Weekly. Church also wants the funds to be specifically targeted toward communities hit hardest by the flood—namely, Pajaro and South County’s San Ardo—and limited to low-income people who aren’t being assisted by federal agencies like FEMA.

Church, who has made more efficient use of county resources a priority, also proposed another wrinkle: He wants to reappropriate an additional $350,000 in funds from the county’s now-expired Covid-19 funeral and burial assistance program—also meant to prioritize low-income and undocumented residents—toward the new flood assistance program. Church says that only 17 people have applied for the funeral funds since the program’s launch during the pandemic—with 15 of those applicants already FEMA-qualified for burial aid, and another determined to be fraudulent.

Alejo, while supportive of diverting $250,000 of the burial funds, counters that the board should renew the pandemic program, and wants to keep $100,000 of the funds intact for their intended use. “I think it would be unjust to take away a program that we created for undocumented Covid victims,” Alejo says, while acknowledging “deficiencies” in the program’s outreach efforts. “I want to leave a safety net—a minimal amount to continue to recognize that Covid continues to be a real issue and takes lives.” Alejo is also resistant about targeting relief dollars specifically to Pajaro and San Ardo, citing how residents in other communities like Bolsa Knolls and Chualar also experienced flood damage. But he sounds open toward Church’s idea of a broader program than just rental assistance: “Whatever form it comes in, I want for us to get this money out as soon as possible,” according to Alejo.

Whatever the course of action, the Board of Supervisors appears close to approving anywhere from $628,000 to $728,000 in flood relief for Monterey County’s most vulnerable residents. That will be a huge help for residents from Pajaro to San Ardo—and possibly places in between. But as always with government, the devil is in the details—and Tuesday will see whether the board can iron those out and finally get that money out the door.

As always, the public is invited to weigh in.The meeting happens at 1:30pm tomorrow, April 25, viewable on Zoom or in person at the county building in Salinas.