Mecca living conditions questioned

Nicole C. Brambila • The Desert Sun • February 8, 2008

About 100 farmworkers turned out to protest shoddy living conditions in Mecca at a news conference to tout efforts to curb illegal dumping on the Torres-Martinez reservation.

Officials with the Torres Martinez Solid Waste Collaborative - a partnership formed 18 months ago with the tribe, the Environmental Protection Agency and Riverside County - had hoped to publicize its cleanup efforts, but ended up fielding questions about the availability of affordable housing and a pending federal judge's order about the Duroville community on the reservation.

"We don't want the authorities to forget about us," one Duroville resident said in a written question.

And another, "When the judge came out, why weren't we able to talk to him, to tell him what's going on?"

County Supervisor Roy Wilson, whose district spans the east valley, deferred questions to tribal Chairman Raymond Torres.

"I'm not going to answer any of those questions because the park is not under the authority of Riverside County," he said. "That's a federal, a tribal issue."

A federal judge Monday will decide whether to shutter Duroville because of health and safety issues dating back to 2003. Duroville, nicknamed after its owner, Harvey Duro, is home to about 3,000 low-income farmworkers. The park emerged after a county crackdown on illegal parks in the late 1990s.

County officials have estimated a shutdown could cause a $25million economic disaster.

"If the park were to shut down, we would not want any residents to be left out without a place to go," Torres answered residents.

"It's not an easy fix."

Then he cited a trailer park ordinance the tribal council recently passed. Torres has said in previous interviews the ordinance would only impact new development.

Residents also expressed concerns about electricity and water outages at St. Anthony Trailer Park in Mecca, which county officials are slated to inspect for health and safety issues.

Wilson cited the $50 million county investment in low-income housing since 2001 and the 2,000 new units in the east valley.

"Eventually, everyone will have available to them affordable and decent living conditions," he said.

County officials who deal with affordable housing have reported that any fix is, minimally, 18 months out.

Before the question and answer period, officials with the Torres Martinez Solid Waste Collaborative rattled off a laundry list of the tons of collected waste in a $1.6 million abatement project begun about a year ago.

"I also live on the reservation and I see the difference," said Mary Maxine Revalso, a tribal council member.

At the close of the meeting, St. Anthony residents played a video of children walking to school in ankle-deep mud. Some residents grew angry and yelled at Wilson, who left for a tour of a tribal wetlands project on the Salton Sea without watching the video.

"We've seen it all," he told the crowd. "We know how bad it is."