Panelist’s Child-Care Expense Questioned

The attorney for the Ventura County Area Housing Authority said Wednesday he will review the reimbursement of child-care expenses to a board member who paid her husband to watch their children so she could attend board meetings.

That billing practice came to light this week after a review of the agency’s records called some expenses into question.

The Housing Authority oversees 2,800 units of low-income housing and offers rental assistance to the poor in Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Ojai and several unincorporated areas of the county.

That review showed that the authority’s board members agreed earlier this year to double their pay from $25 to $50 per meeting--up to a maximum of $200 a month--and to buy dinners for themselves at monthly board meetings, officials said.

Records also showed that board member Sharon Pfeifer, appointed to the 15-member panel in April to represent Camarillo, had been reimbursed $290 for child-care costs. Housing Authority officials said she had paid her husband $10 an hour to watch the couple’s children while she attended board meetings, but did so only after clearing it with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Pfeifer could not be reached Wednesday for comment. David Cunningham, the Housing Authority’s attorney, said he believes HUD has agreed that her child-care costs are a legitimate expense. But Cunningham said he plans to check with federal housing officials anyway to ensure they know the money is going to Pfeifer’s husband, who works from the couple’s home.

“I’m not sure HUD understood all the facts,” he said. “If she’s wrong and HUD misunderstood, I have no doubt she will immediately refund the money.”

As far as the other expenses, Cunningham said he sees no problem with board members boosting their pay--as allowed by state law--or providing meals for themselves.

“I think it goes along with getting people [on the board] who are more business oriented,” he said. “They are willing to donate their experience and their time, but they are not willing to go negative on things.”