EAA member Rey Leon is honored for launching an EV ride sharing program for farmworkers

Huron, California Mayor Rey Leon, recently recognized by the California Energy Commission as a “Clean Energy Champion,” is determined to make his city the greenest on the map, and much of his effort has centered around electric transportation.

Leon has championed many clean air causes since he moved back to his hometown of 7,200 residents in 2016, including sustainable development, environmental justice systems change, and green jobs. He successfully advocated for the placement of the first Particulate Matter 2.5 air quality monitor on the west side of the valley, and it is still sitting on the roof of the Huron Middle School. His first move as mayor was to change out hundreds of street lights for LED lighting, resulting in a $5,000 monthly  savings for the city. 

Perhaps most impressively, Mayor Leon was behind the forging of a partnership with EVgo that funded the installation of 10 electric vehicle (EV) chargers, and worked with Electrify America to install another twelve. With four chargers installed by the county, and four more by the  school district, Huron has the  highest per capita charging capacity in the country. 

“We’re over 98% Latino, and the other two percent are Punjabi and Yemini,” Leon said. “So I like to say we’re the brownest and the greenest city in the country.”

The founder of LEAP

The California Energy Commission Clean Energy Hall of Fame Awards are given to leaders who have made exceptional contributions to help California achieve a 100 percent clean energy future. Leon received his award  for work done under the auspices of The Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute (LEAP), an organization he founded and where he serves as executive director.

Specifically, the award recognized Leon’s formation of the innovative Green Raiteros EV ridesharing program, providing transportation for farmworkers, as well as seniors who live in rural areas, to and from critical medical and social services appointments.

Hitting five targets at once

Green Raiteros (“Raiteros” translating to “volunteer drivers”)  is a reinvention of the informal, self-organized system that local farm workers have relied upon for decades to avoid the 6-hour round trip bus ride to and from appointments in  Fresno. 

“I’m looking forward to the day when we’ll have a full fleet of EVs,” Leon said. “The Green Raiteros program is a solution-based effort to make us all winners. The planet will win, the health of the passengers will win, the health of the community will win,  and the pocketbook of the community will win because everyone will be saving money and not contaminating the environment.”

For now, paid Green Raiteros drivers use the organization’s Chevrolet Bolt and BMWi3 EV to give rides.

“Before COVID,  we had 200 clients and we were doing approximately 100 miles per week, many times with four or five passengers on each trip,” Leon explained. “With the restrictions, it’s been impossible to transport multiple farmworkers in one car, even with masks, face shields, and sanitizers, so things have slowed down.”

“These farmworkers are essential employees in the agricultural industry, and our financial resources have zeroed out at the same time that we desperately need to drive them to vaccination appointments, as well as to support them with food, medication or whatever else they need to keep strong,” Leon continued.

A second division of Green Raiteros, relying on  volunteer drivers who are reimbursed per mile to use their own vehicles, has also been severely curtailed by the pandemic. And even before the slowdown, most of these volunteers were using gas vehicles. 

‘This is a problem,” Rey said regarding the serious dearth of EVs in a city that has 30 chargers for 7200 residents. “Now that the river has water, everyone needs a canoe.”

“We don’t have to worry about  EV demand,” he continued.  “We’ve created awareness with the constituents. They know that it’s better for the environment, and that the savings on gas and car maintenance could go to pay for their rent, utilities, groceries…  It’s just that when we tell them to look into state rebates, the rebates are unconvincing. They’re too expensive and too inaccessible still. They’re really set up for more affluent drivers.” 

Three new EVs on the way

Green Raiteros is hoping to take delivery on three additional EVs purchased with the help of a California state grant. “We’re waiting on a final green light from the government,” Leon said. “We’re also working on hiring a transportation coordinator to help us with a second grant to fund ridesharing services in and out of Fresno.”

Additionally, the organization is poised to take delivery on 30 electric tricycles (e-trikes), also funded by the grant.

“We have a lot of people employed at a tomato processing plant two miles down a dirt road,” Leon said. “We’re hoping to work with the county and/or the farmers to pave it with decomposed granite so these folks can use the e-trikes to get there if they prefer. We also hope to provide some of these bikes to small businesses in town for product deliveries.”

“We need to do whatever we can to convert the valley to electric vehicles,” he continued. “We know that having clean air is critical and it’s a problem we’ve been facing forever—we have one of the most contaminated air basins in the country. The biggest piece of the pollution pie comes from transportation." 

Becoming a voice 

Leon recently partnered with Hollywood actors Mark Ruffalo and Chloe Bennet in the Electric For All organization’s  Forty Million Reasons to Go Electric, promoting California's zero-emission car campaign. Serving as a voice for highlighting the importance of transitioning all of California’s diverse drivers to greener vehicles, the mayor was proud to represent the Central Valley, and especially Huron.

“Our town needs to get on the map. We have the best tacos west of the Mississippi, and we’re right off Interstate 5 between LA and the Bay Area,” Rey said. “I grew up making tacos at my parents’ restaurant. I was making corn tortillas since I was 9, so I’ve been serving people my whole life.”

Leon extended an invitation to all EAA members nationwide to stop by when they’re traveling Interstate 5. “You’ll not only love the tacos, you’ll see how green we’re becoming,” he concluded.