Oxnard Is Accused of Turning Its Back on Slum : Housing: Farm worker representative says federal funds are being misused, solution to plight of trailer park residents ignored.

A Sacramento housing expert negotiating with Oxnard officials over low-cost housing has accused the city of misusing federal funds and threatened to notify state investigators if the city continues favoring a local speculator.

In a letter to Oxnard officials, Ramsey A. Gregory of Rural Community Assistance Corp., which provides housing for farm workers, said that the city is reneging on its promise to make life better for residents of a ramshackle trailer park.

According to Gregory, city officials are acting against the recommendations of a special committee that found that the only solution was to relocate the residents, preferably to a proposed city-subsidized housing project.

The city purchased 41 acres of farmland in east Oxnard from real estate businessman Donald T. Kojima for $5.32 million last year, in a deal that was originally conceived as a way to relocate the 1,100 residents of the Oxnard Mobilehome Lodge, one of the county’s worst slums.

Council members later backed off that pledge, saying it was financially infeasible. And the housing now being proposed, critics said, is too expensive for the trailer park residents--most of whom are farm workers.

Gregory said the city is apparently refusing to consider any alternative that would include relocating residents.

“The majority of the committee came to the conclusion that conditions could only improve at the park if the residents were relocated somewhere else,” Gregory said. “The city’s report was in direct contradiction to that point. That was like a dash of cold water on our faces.”

The city is now treating the trailer park residents and the planned housing project as two separate issues. The council is scheduled to consider proposals for the housing project in May.

City officials did not return phone calls Monday.

Under his original deal with the city, Kojima, who has no development experience, was given first shot at the affordable housing project.

But now it seems as if Kojima will be a part of any deal that takes place, Gregory said.

“Kojima doesn’t understand development at all,” Gregory said. “In these negotiations, he has been there with his hand out, negotiating with anyone who promises him a developer’s fee.”

In his letter to Oxnard officials, Gregory threatened to contact the state office of the inspector general if the city continues what he calls bad-faith dealings.

Kojima could not be reached for comment.

Tonight, Oxnard Housing Director Sal Gonzalez will update council members on plans for the city-owned land. The proposed housing development, which originally consisted of about 20 acres and 115 homes, now includes about 80 acres and 450 homes. The additional 60 acres and about 320 homes would be built on an adjoining parcel owned by Kojima.

Council members will also listen to recommendations by city staff and other members of the committee formed last year to explore ways to improve the living conditions of the trailer park residents.

Karen Guriel, owner of the Oxnard Mobilehome Lodge and a participant in the committee, has written a letter to the City Council with a suggestion to end the longstanding problem between the city and the trailer park’s residents: Buy the property.

“The city of Oxnard is morally obligated to help my residents as they have promised for years,” Guriel said in the letter. “As owners, they would be far better prepared and positioned to achieve real solutions to these problems.”

The state Department of Housing and Community Development has ordered Guriel to improve the area’s streets and electrical systems, which were deemed a safety hazard. She plans to spend $300,000 to complete the improvements, but doing so will make it almost impossible to alter the configuration of the park and lower its density. Council members suggested in December that Guriel reduce the number of lots in the trailer park.