Countywide : Elys to Seek Court OK to Move to Vista

Former community college district Trustee James T. (Tom) Ely, on probation for embezzling school funds, will seek court permission Tuesday to move out of Ventura County.

Ely, 56, wants to move to Vista, in northern San Diego County, where he can rent a house from his sister at about half the cost of similar housing in Ventura County, attorney James M. Farley said.

Ely and his wife, Ingrid, 48, must move out of their Simi Valley residence by next week because it is being sold in the wake of their bankruptcy filing and foreclosure actions, Farley said.

“The guy’s got to live someplace, and he found a place to live that he can afford and it’s in San Diego County,” Farley said.

The Elys were convicted in June, 1991, of conspiring to steal more than $15,000 from the Ventura County Community College District by filing false claims and double-billing for expenses. Ingrid Ely’s conviction was overturned last month by the state Court of Appeal, but prosecutors are appealing that decision to the California Supreme Court.

The appellate court upheld Tom Ely’s conviction. He has not had to serve a one-year jail sentence, however, because he has undergone radical surgery for facial cancer.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol Nelson called Ely’s request to leave the county “confusing,” because a move to San Diego County will take him farther from his physicians at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

“That just seems like a heck of a commute,” Nelson said.

Farley said the Elys will be charged $850 monthly rent in Vista in a gated community. The Elys wanted to live in a gated community because “they’ve been feeling rather insecure, since they’re both ill,” Farley said.

A comparable house in Ventura County would cost $1,500 to $2,000 to rent, Farley said.

Nelson said a move out of the county should be justified on medical grounds, not a desire to find a better house for less money.

“When you’re on probation there are some sacrifices that you make, and the cost of living in Ventura County is part of that,” Nelson said.

“I can appreciate the economics of it, that they’d like to live in as nice a house as possible. So would I.”

Ingrid Ely, contacted by telephone, said she and her husband want to move to Vista to be closer to relatives.

“There are advantages to family, and we can’t afford to live in Ventura County, so we’re moving,” she said.