OXNARD : Council to Consider Low-Cost Home Plan

The Oxnard City Council will hold a special meeting at 1:30 p.m. today to listen to a proposal by real estate speculator Donald T. Kojima for building 115 low-cost homes on a city-owned 41-acre parcel.

The impromptu meeting, which was not announced until noon Monday, came as a surprise to farm worker advocates, who were denied the chance this month to submit alternate proposals at the same time as Kojima.

“I am absolutely surprised because I don’t know what is going to be discussed,” said Eileen McCarthy of California Rural Legal Assistance. “I also don’t know what is being discussed that could warrant a meeting with only 24 hours notice.”

Kojima said he was just as surprised about the special meeting, which he did not learn about until he received a call from a city official Monday. He declined further comment.

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said that the council is not meeting Nov. 29, and its members wanted to see what Kojima has put together before outgoing Councilman Michael A. Plisky has to step down from office Dec. 6.

“This is the last opportunity that Mike will have to take part in it,” Lopez said. “He has been involved in this project for years.”

As part of a $5.32-million land deal between Kojima and Oxnard, city officials agreed to give the developer first crack at submitting a proposal to build 115 low-cost homes on the property he had just sold the city.

The deal was conceived as a way to relocate the residents of the Oxnard Mobilehome Lodge, one of the county’s worst slums, by building them a new place to live. But the homes that Kojima originally proposed were criticized by farm worker advocates as too expensive, and the council vowed to provide less-costly homes.

Lopez said Kojima, who was supposed to present his proposal to a postponed council meeting Nov. 15, has had plenty of time to compile a plan.