OXNARD : Council Studies New Housing Agency

A nonprofit corporation designed to help close the gap on the critical need for affordable housing in Oxnard will be considered by the City Council at a meeting Tuesday.

The proposal would devote $50,000 in city funds to create a community-based nonprofit agency that would not be hampered by bureaucratic rules now hindering the city’s housing authority, an official said.

“When you couple the funding with no burdensome bureaucracy, it makes the nonprofit agency much more attractive,” said Ernie Whitaker, manager of the city’s Housing Rehabilitation Committee.

The council has been concerned for more than a year about the city’s ability to encourage the creation of lost-cost housing.

One study covering the period from Oct. 1, 1988, to Sept. 30, 1991, indicates that 6,547 lower-income households will need rental subsidies, and that only an estimated 856 families are projected to receive them.

The needs of the remaining 5,691 families could be met by the new corporation, Whitaker said.

As a public agency, the city housing authority must go through a “lot of rigmarole,” such as meeting stringent state and federal regulations and following city policies on borrowing money and bidding for land, Whitaker said.

In addition, state and federal agencies have encouraged the creation of funding nonprofit agencies, Whitaker said.

The city would use funds appropriated from the city’s Housing Authority. The city council would have no direct involvement with the nonprofit agency after a board of directors was appointed and it was incorporated.

The corporation would develop extended care facilities for senior citizens unable to live independently. It also would work to fill vacant lots found in already-developed neighborhoods. Such lots are not profitable to big developers but are useful for single-family housing.

In addition, the corporation would work on affordable family housing for rent and sale and mobile home programs, Whitaker said.