Federal employees who missed a second paycheck showed up Friday afternoon to receive food at three locations in Santa Barbara County, grateful for the help even amid reports of the partial shutdown’s temporary end.
Geoff Mohr and girlfriend Katrina York stopped by the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County warehouse in Santa Maria for a special distribution session established for federal workers. Similar giveaways were held in Lompoc and Santa Barbara.
Mohr said he figured his situation is less dire than many of his colleagues since he’s single with no children and had prepared for several weeks without an income because of a previous shutdown.
The federal correctional officer still showed up to work although it remained uncertain when he would get his next paycheck.
“I go to work every day, working 40 to 60 hours a week, for nothing,” he said of working without knowing when he might get his salary. “Every day I go to work, I could get stabbed.”
The record-setting federal government shutdown began Dec. 22 and has affected the Bureau of Prisons, NASA, Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers, the U.S. Forest Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard and more.
“It’s tough on morale,” Mohr said.
In all, about 800,000 employees were left unpaid by the shutdown with thousands of contract employees also affected in various ways.
While many federal employees have been furloughed, others have continued to work, including the hundreds of correctional officers responsible for monitoring 2,919 inmates at the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex.
Mohr said he was grateful for the Foodbank’s help.
“It’s terrific,” he said. “It’s opened my eyes, then when things open back up these guys are going to be on my support list.”
He and York said they were especially grateful that the offering included a large bag of fresh produce. Last week’s offering included a turkey.
Foodbank leaders said the free distribution would continue next week from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday and Friday at the Santa Maria warehouse at 490 W. Foster Road, the Santa Barbara warehouse at 4554 Hollister Ave. and in Lompoc at 242 Oakridge Road. Identification isn’t necessary, and immediate family members can pick up food on behalf of federal employees.
As of Thursday, the Foodbank had distributed 6,906 pounds of fresh produce and staples to 462 individuals and 178 families, according to representative Judith Smith-Meyer.
While the shutdown affected some agencies, the effects have been wide ranging, including stalling some Central Coast breweries’ beer releases and leaving national parks and forests with limited services.
Word of Friday’s deal to temporarily end the shutdown by funding agencies for three weeks came shortly before a news conference at the Santa Barbara Airport, where union representatives delivered a message to federal lawmakers.
“I think it became crystal clear that not only are we still doing this press conference, but it’s all the more important that we drive home the point that working families are not pawns to be used in political games,” said Jeremy Goldberg of the Central Coast Labor Council.
Bobby Orozco Jr. of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1260 said his union represents 3,000 TSA workers, including those at the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo airports.
“For 35 days, over 45,000 transportation security officers who were not being paid were forced to come into work. This is not the American way,” Orozco said. “This is not what these folks sign up for, yet it is what our political system of government has become.”
In addition to being dedicated to the TSA mission, the workers also are devoted to their families, he said, calling on Congress to take action to avoid a repeat shutdown that uses employees as political pawns.
“This undue harm that has come to federal employees is unconscionable and it does need to stop,” said veteran Erich Schmidt, a TSA officer who commutes from his home in Ventura to his job at the Santa Barbara Airport.
Some federal employees have had to decide whether to buy food, gas or medicine and if they could afford to drive to work, Schmidt said during the press conference.
“I had to determine whether or not I was going to pay for my chemo for my degenerative condition or I was going to eat and feed my family … ,” he said. “I had to make those decisions because I didn’t know how long the shutdown was going to go for. And every decison I make today was going to affect my tomorrow. That is the problem. A three-week lull in this thing isn’t going to save anybody. It’s just going to make things worse.”
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.