OXNARD : Zoe Center to File Amended Bias Suit

The Zoe Christian Center in Oxnard will file an amended lawsuit against the city of Oxnard that accuses city officials of discriminating against the homeless center, the center’s co-founder said Thursday.

The center, which is the only year-round shelter in Ventura County, filed the original lawsuit in October, contending that the city intentionally distorted an environmental report that resulted in the denial of more than $2 million in government grants.

But Superior Court Judge Edwin M. Osborne on Wednesday dismissed the suit, saying the Zoe suit failed to prove allegations of wrongdoing.

But Osborne gave the center 30 days to refile an amended lawsuit, and on Thursday Zoe co-founder Fred Judy said Zoe officials have decided to file an amended suit within several weeks.

In the dismissed suit filed by center attorney Alan M. Horowitz, the center failed to name the Oxnard officials that it charged had worked in secret to sabotage the private, nonprofit agency, Judy said.

But in its amended suit, Zoe officials will specify which city leaders it believes worked against the center’s interests, and eliminate some of the secondhand information that the judge found objectionable, Judy said.