Ojai council OKs $100,000 one-year agreement for rental assistance, adds monthly reporting

The Ojai City Council on Oct. 28 authorized the city manager to enter an agreement with Help of Ojai to fund homeless-prevention and rapid-rehousing rental assistance for a one-year term at $100,000, with the organization required to provide monthly reports to the city.

City staff described the action as a local contracting step to support eviction prevention. Help of Ojai’s program manager, Jane Walters, told the council the organization had exhausted a prior county HAP grant and currently had “effectively have $0 in rental assistance,” creating an immediate need for local funds.

Walters described the program’s eligibility screening: requests for rental assistance are initiated with a landlord-issued pay-or-quit notice, indicating nonpayment of rent. Applications are reviewed for short-term, situational needs (for example, a temporary loss of income) and for household sustainability; Help of Ojai staff said the program aims to avoid recurring dependency by emphasizing case management and interventions designed to stabilize households.

Walters and councilmembers discussed operational details: staff said case managers treat eviction-prevention referrals as urgent (often a three-day pay-or-quit timeline) and aim to turn applications around in one to two days where possible, subject to documentation and landlord cooperation. Councilmembers asked for anecdotal reporting in addition to data; Walters said her organization could include narratives and snapshots of trends such as changes in CalFresh/SNAP benefits as part of monthly reports.

Councilmembers framed the allocation as a pilot and noted the budget process in the coming spring would allow the council to revisit the term and amount. A motion to authorize the agreement with reporting passed by roll call (Council member Whitman yes; Council member Ruhl yes; Mayor Gilman yes; Council member Meng yes; Mayor Pro Tem Lang yes).