OJAI : City Threatens Suit Over Housing Lists

In an ongoing dispute, the city of Ojai has threatened to sue the county’s Area Housing Authority if that agency does not reverse its policy regarding public housing waiting lists.

In a closed session Tuesday night, City Council members decided to pursue legal action against the agency if it does not give Ojai residents priority on a waiting list for the 100-unit Whispering Oaks senior housing project in Ojai, City Atty. Monte Widders said.

Since receiving orders from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last year, the local agency has discontinued its practice of giving priority on waiting lists to applicants who live in the city where they apply for public housing, said Carolyn Briggs, the county housing authority’s executive director.

The new system, which gives no geographical preference to applicants, displaced Ojai residents who had been on a list for the Whispering Oaks units, officials said.

Briggs said the county agency has applied to HUD for a waiver that will allow it to return to the old listing system but has not received a response.

Widders said the city has also discussed forming its own housing authority that would give Ojai residents first choice. City officials plan to meet with Briggs before moving ahead with the lawsuit, they said.

The cities of Ojai, Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and the county’s unincorporated areas now contract with the Area Housing Authority to administer waiting lists for the low-income complexes.