Joaquín Jiménez has marked history in the Bay Area, as he is the first Mexican migrant to become mayor in Half Moon Bay, making his social struggle from a very young age transformed into clear goals for a community that has been invisible and forgotten for many. because they are, for the most part, peasant migrants who suffer from labor exploitation, to whom it seeks to give a voice.
In the Peninsula 360 Press mobile unit, Manuel Ortiz conducted an interview with the mayor of Half Moon Bay, Joaquín Jiménez, broadcast during the Peninsula 360 Radio program in collaboration with Marcos Gutiérrez from «Hecho en California".
Jiménez knows first-hand the needs of his community and how they live them, since he is originally from Jalisco, Mexico. His parents were farmers and seeking to give a better life to their children, they emigrated to the United States to work in agricultural fields; At the age of 13, Joaquín arrived with his brothers to visit them in Half Moon Bay. The idea was just to spend a season learning English, but fate and love for their parents made them stay.
Now older, Joaquín decided to study sociology at the University of Chico California, influenced by what was happening around his community, mainly with young people, since previously there were no programs designed for them that would provide them with significant support, and this is how it is who decides to work for the benefit of his people.
"In 2014 a tragedy happened, an 18-year-old girl was murdered, she suffered from schizophrenia and was murdered by a county sheriff," Jiménez recalled.
From that fact, the current mayor of Half Moon Bay realizes that Mexicans, and Latinos, in general, did not have a home or anyone to support them. He went out to protest peacefully to demand answers to the unfortunate incident and there he began to work on behalf of the farmers. "It was there that I decided that one day I was going to run for the General Council of Half Moon Bay."
In 2020, Joaquín decided to run, won the election and became a milestone, as he became the first Mexican migrant to be mayor in Half Moon Bay, a small rural coastal town that today has someone of its own to take care of them.
"The community feels comfortable," commented the mayor, highlighting that it has had a very good response from the people who feel more comfortable and that they are part of the town.
Being part of them is not enough, because Jiménez knows that security and access to housing is key for the community to advance to better circumstances.
Joaquín has approached the farmers, learning their stories, some sad and others of injustice, regretting that they are not able to report it due to their immigration status, and that this leads them to lose their job or even their stay is at stake. in United States.
The Mexican migrant community is not the only vulnerable one in the area, since a sector belongs to natives of China, except that it is almost invisible, silently suffering abuses and needs.
"We did know about the Chinese farmers, we are working with them and we even made several reports," Jímenez assured, adding that during the pandemic, the Latin farmer stopped working but the Chinese one did not, since they were forced to continue.
An experience he shared was a case of workers who had not received their payment for 3 months, until a lawsuit was filed, after which the person involved was arrested and managed to demand payment from the workers, demonstrating that if you fight you can win. .
In the case of housing, the mayor explained that during 2015-2016 many people who were engaged in essential jobs were being asked to vacate or their rent would be raised overnight, "we have always focused on housing?, he stressed.
When talking about the agricultural workers of Half Moon Bay, Joaquín knows that they are "modern slaves," because they are forced to live there, with a low salary and suffering from abuse and excessive work, without reporting what they go through.
Given this, he said, work is being done to have decent and affordable housing options for farm workers; Financial support was received from the federal government, however there are still people who oppose this housing project, leaving a feeling of discrimination.
As if it were a bad joke, Jiménez recalled that, in one of many meetings, they sought to have these peasants locked up at night, arguing that they could break into other people's houses.
?With a comment they said: ?but they are going to get into our houses, they should lock them up at night, put a gate at night so they don't come out.? I kept thinking, is this making me laugh or is it making me angry? But they are comments that were made and we agree that they are not animals to be locked up?, Joaquín Jiménez pointed out.
Just as there are negative comments, there are also those people who support. An example of this is that, during the pandemic, many Latino leaders were on the front lines offering public services, talking about important health issues and bringing resources, Jiménez commented. , who was one of them hand in hand with his renowned blue truck during those difficult times.
Election time, time to act
Giving voice requires having a voice, and part of that is elections. For this electoral process, Joaquín Jiménez invites people to be part of the important decisions of the country. However, his biggest advice is to stay informed, do your research, know the candidate and not get carried away by the party or the name.
"Don't go because of the name, not because they see Joaquín Jiménez on the ballot, they say, let's vote for a Mexican Latino," he stressed.
It is important to know what he has done, what he has worked on and his personal projects, in this way to know if he has worked with the community, supported people and that his actions are more than his words, he explained.
Likewise, Mayor Jiménez asked the politicians not to use the peasants for their benefit, and that if they are going to approach it it is because they are going to serve and if not, it is better not to do it, "because they are not pawns, but kings in a chess game?.
Rancho San Benito: grow and advance
Learning and motivation are essential for the resilience of this farming community, and the Rancho San Benito project has become a space to encourage agricultural workers, giving them more opportunities to live differently and to improve themselves.
"I realized that in order to provide economic mobility to a farmer, there is no better way than to make them owners of their own harvest," commented Joaquín Jiménez.
The ranch focuses on working with the farming community to give them the opportunity to become owners of their own harvest, learning to run a business, considering that they already know how to work the land and it is time for them to focus on the administrative part so that can be overcome.
"We are seeing that in 10 years, the peasant of today will be the new farmer and that is our goal, agriculture will remain in the hands of the peasant," Jiménez concluded.
You may be interested in: Americans are experiencing difficult times in their family finances, experts say
