Santa Ana : Council Delays Action on Housing Agency Nominee

A City Council vote to nominate landlord Paul Sepulveda to the Housing Advisory Commission was effectively postponed for two weeks Monday when the council decided to accept the nomination for consideration at its next regular meeting.

Sepulveda, the first property owner to face criminal charges in Santa Ana’s crackdown on slum housing last year, was nominated by Councilman John Acosta.

Also on Monday, Councilwoman Patricia McGuigan announced she would oppose the nomination, the fourth council member to publicly do so. Four of the seven council members would have to approve the nomination for Sepulveda to be seated.

Sepulveda and his wife were named in a 19-count criminal complaint in June for allegedly failing to repair or vacate two rundown houses as ordered by housing officials.

In September, the Sepulvedas pleaded “no contest” to a single count of failing to obey the order of a building official. Both received $250 fines and were ordered to pay $175 in court costs and to provide $10 to the victim-witness fund. The other 18 counts were dropped.

In addition to the criminal charges, the city filed a civil complaint against the Sepulvedas in its attempt to have the couple’s buildings on the northwest corner of Birch and Walnut streets brought up to code. The Sepulvedas agreed to a court-ordered schedule for repairs, and one building has since been demolished.

Also last summer, another property owned by the Sepulvedas and former Planning Commissioner Fred V. Munoz was cited by housing inspectors for overcrowded conditions.

That house had been divided into two separate units in violation of the city’s housing code, with additional illegal dwellings in the basement and a backyard camper.