2 Waiting Lists Offered for Housing

A three-year battle over who can live in Ventura County’s low-income housing has ended with federal officials offering a compromise: separate waiting lists for residents in the east and west county.

Representatives from cities in the Area Housing Authority have pushed since 1992 for waiting lists that would give preference to residents in cities where the housing is available.

But officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said that system was unfair, and forced the housing authority to create one waiting list for the county with no geographic preferences.

Now, a year after federal officials toured the county, HUD administrator Roberta Achtenberg has notified the county that it may create two waiting lists. One would cover units in Camarillo, Ojai and surrounding unincorporated areas. The second would encompass Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Fillmore and unincorporated areas.

Applicants for housing, however, could choose to be on both lists. There are now nearly 1,000 individuals or families on the waiting list.

The change, if approved by HUD, would likely take effect in June or July, said Carolyn G. Briggs, executive director of the housing authority.

Several city officials said they are not happy with the compromise, but will grudgingly accept it.

“We didn’t get what we really wanted out of public housing,” said Ojai Councilwoman Nina Shelley. “But I think for the time being it’s as much as we’re going to get.”