OXNARD : Funds Targeted for Housing Needs

The Oxnard City Council on Tuesday decided how to divvy up a $543,000 federal grant aimed at providing housing for the city’s low-income residents.

Council members unanimously agreed to spend $385,000 on a first-time homebuyers program in Oxnard’s La Colonia district and the Rose Park neighborhood.

Another $103,700 will go to support a citywide effort by a nonprofit housing corporation to create low-cost housing.

The remainder of the money, $54,300, will go toward the city’s administrative costs.

“We’re ready to put this money to good use,” said Ernie Whitaker, who manages the city’s housing rehabilitation program.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development, through the Home Investment Partnership Act program, granted the money last year. Oxnard officials will be free to start using the funds as soon as federal officials approve the city’s spending plan.

The first-time homebuyers program will subsidize the purchase of new homes for 16 families in the Rose Park and La Colonia neighborhoods.

A lottery will be used to determine who receives the aid.

The $103,700 will be used by the Saticoy-based Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. in its effort to replace 76 housing units that have been wiped out by redevelopment efforts over the years.

The city’s blueprint for future housing construction outlines a five-year goal of building 1,450 low- and moderate-income housing units.

The city has constructed only 43 low-income housing units in the last 11 years, according to housing officials.