CAMARILLO : 4 Join Rent Review, Investment Panels

The Camarillo City Council has appointed three residents to a committee that helps resolve disputes between landlords and tenants, and another resident to a panel that recommends where the city should invest its money.

After receiving applications from seven residents for three openings on the city’s five-member Rent Review Commission, the council selected Jackie Marcus, Jo Ann Van Reenan and Robert Elder.

Set up in 1981, the volunteer commission holds public hearings and makes non-binding recommendations to resolve disputes between tenants and landlords from apartment complexes and mobile-home parks.

Marcus will serve as tenant representative, Van Reenan as alternate tenant representative and Elder as one of the board’s three public members.

As a homeowner, Elder said he is not directly affected by rent levels or other issues that concern landlords and tenants.

But, he said, “there are a lot of people who are forced to pay rents that are above and beyond what they should be.”

In addition, the council approved Herbert Warneke for his third two-year term on the city’s Investment Committee.

The council formed the committee in 1989 after the city lost $25 million through high-risk investments.

Warneke, 68, said he has 38 years experience in banking and finance and thought that he could help steer city officials away from bad investments.

“Frankly, I’m retired and it gives me a chance to use my expertise,” he said.