OXNARD : 100 More Youths to Be Hired for Summer

Oxnard officials plan to hire 100 more students this year for summer internships with money the city received from the federal government.

The Oxnard City Council Tuesday approved the addition of $155,000 in federal funding for the youth employment program, which pays students minimum wage to work in all areas of city government--from cleaning the parks to sorting books for public libraries.

This week’s decision means the number of students working this summer will increase from 233 to 330, said Lino Corona, overseer of the summer youth employment and training program.

“We had about 1,000 qualified applicants for the program, so we see any increase as a good thing,” Corona said.

Corona said he was disappointed that it took until midway through the summer to receive the money. “That’s just the way the bureaucracy works,” he said.

The funding originated from federal legislation and was handed to the state, which then rationed it off to various city programs, he said.

Corona said there were several city agencies that still expressed interest in hiring the students, even if only for a month.

“We just want to get them to work,” he said. “The sooner they’re out there, the better.”