Zoe Shelter Faces Eviction After Losing Lawsuit

Ventura County’s only year-round homeless shelter lost a legal battle Thursday to recoup the loss of government grants, and now faces eviction from its Oxnard property because it has fallen $94,500 behind in rent.

An eviction could put 60 shelter residents--including 39 children--at Oxnard’s Zoe Christian Center back on the street as early as Saturday morning, said Fred Judy, the center’s founder and president.

“I don’t know what to do,” said Judy, who was searching for replacement housing after receiving an eviction notice Wednesday. “I’m in a daze. I’m hoping that we can work out something with the city.”

Word of the possible eviction came a day before a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of the center seeking $35 million in damages from the city of Oxnard.

Superior Court Judge Edwin Osborne threw out the suit because it did not clearly explain how Oxnard officials hurt the shelter’s ability to collect grant money, Judy said.

The suit, dismissed for the second time in three months, accused city officials of plotting to shut down the facility by falsifying an environmental report, which center officials contend resulted in the loss of more than $300,000 a year in federal, state and local grants.

Osborne on Thursday gave Zoe 30 days to correct the deficiencies and file an amended lawsuit. Judy said he intends to refile the suit.

Oxnard Assistant City Atty. Paula Kimbrell said she had not heard of the dismissal and declined to comment.

Oxnard City Councilman Mike Plisky said the shelter’s possible closure was not the city’s responsibility.

“This is not a city of Oxnard problem,” Plisky said of the center that has operated at 5th Street and Rose Avenue since 1984. “Why is the city supposed to do anything? There are other organizations out there who have the responsibility to do something about this.”

Plisky, a frequent critic of the center’s management, added: “I never felt Zoe was the solution. Unfortunately, too much hope has been placed in Zoe.”

The center’s troubles started in 1989 when the city revoked Zoe’s operating permit after Fire Department officials determined that the shelter was too close to a fertilizer plant where hazardous chemicals were stored.

Zoe commissioned its own study, which concluded that the site was free of contamination.

Nevertheless, Judy said, Zoe was denied more than $2 million in grants from federal and state agencies, Ventura County and all 10 cities in the county because the city revoked the permit.

Since 1991, the center has fallen about $300,000 behind in its bills, including $94,500 in back rent to its landlord, Bernard MacElhenney Jr., Judy said.

On Wednesday, MacElhenney demanded $16,062 in property taxes that Zoe has failed to pay over the past two years. The operators have until today to come up with the money or face eviction.

MacElhenney did not return phone calls Thursday.

But Judy said city officials, not the landlord, are to blame for the center’s present troubles. He added that he and the shelter’s residents have done everything possible to cut costs and raise money.

Residents, for example, have recently started paying between $350 and $550 a month for rooms at the center. The shelter has cut its staff from 15 to three. And Zoe also has been holding yard sales to generate cash to pay the bills.

Judy, an ordained minister who believes that it is his divine mission to house the homeless, said even the threat of eviction cannot deter him.

“I’ll find somewhere for them,” he pledged. “I’m not going to walk away from them and leave them on the street.”

Staff writer Fred Alvarez contributed to this story.