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Solutions panel: employers, school-district housing and modular projects offer practical near-term gains
Summary
A solutions panel highlighted employer-sponsored farmworker housing, a school-district workforce housing project (50 units) and local modular builds as replicable models that can be accelerated through pooled funding and proactive county–city coordination.
A solutions-focused panel shifted the summit from diagnosis to local actions that can be implemented at municipal and regional scale. Members described employer-sponsored housing, modular construction pilots and school-district workforce housing as models with demonstrated local precedents.
Dr. Sandra Jo Galvan, superintendent of the Salinas Union High School District, described a 50-unit workforce housing project completed in 2023 that rents units to district employees at about 70% of market rate on a transitional five-year lease to enable staff to save toward ownership. "We want them to be able to save money, to be able to afford and purchase a home within the city of Salinas," she said.
County housing and construction representatives urged pooling limited local housing monies to create a steady pipeline rather than nine small jurisdictional funds that spread resources thin. Darby Marshall (Monterey County) suggested regional coordination and creative use of public land (for example, relocating public works yards to free up city-served parcels) as a way to unlock shovel-ready sites.
Speakers also noted modular projects have been used in Monterey County: a Greenfield project and Rossi public housing replacements used modular techniques. Panelists said modular can cut timelines in some contexts but that prevailing wage and financing structures determine cost-effectiveness.
The session closed with an emphasis on cross-sector partnerships: employers, faith-based organizations, counties and cities can pool capital or provide land, developers can offer repeatable designs, and housing advocates can mobilize public support to overcome local opposition at hearings.
