PD Editorial: Poverty and prosperity in Sonoma County

At the start of the year, Sonoma County readers learned that, despite a rebounding economy, the number of people going hungry in the region continued to be disturbingly high.

According to officials at Hunger Index Forum in February, Sonoma County residents missed an estimated 35 million meals in 2014, down from a peak of 47 million the previous year.

Now, at year’s end, the county is getting a clear and sobering picture of just who is most often going without food - and other necessities.

According to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos are twice as likely to live in poverty as white residents in Sonoma County. Despite an economic turnaround that has seen the unemployment rate drop below 4 percent this year, one in five Latinos lives at or below the federal poverty level in Sonoma County. That means, they’re living off of less than $14,580 a year as an individual or $29,820 for a family of four.

Between 2005 and 2009, roughly 15 percent of Latinos and 7.4 percent of whites lived at or below that poverty threshold. During the five years that followed, the numbers have climbed to nearly 20 percent for Latinos and 9.3 percent for white residents.

The increase in both numbers should be of concern to everyone going into 2016. As Tim Reese, executive director of Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County, said recently, “Many of the poor in our community are hidden from our view.”

True enough. But they are hidden in plain view. Many of these individuals work at local stores, wait on tables at restaurants, care for aging residents, provide landscaping and household services and fill a variety of vital functions in our community. In this economy, poverty does not mean unemployment. In some cases it comes with working 40 or more hours a week. Given that, the solution to the poverty problem is going to take new thinking and new approaches. As Oscar Chavez, assistant director of the county Human Services Department, was quoted in a recent story, the key is education. It begins with keeping kids in school to earn a high school diploma. In 2013, nearly one in four Latinos in Sonoma County between the ages of 19 and 24 did not have a high school diploma. That is compared to one in 33 white residents in the same age group. Entering the job market without a diploma usually means fewer job opportunities and lower income.

At the same time, the burden is on Sonoma County leaders to continue working to attract the kind of employers that pay living wages.

As it is, the story of Sonoma County is a tale of two households - one that is benefiting from a resurgent local economy and one that’s falling further behind. In looking ahead to 2016, the county must resolve to close that gap.