Both Lancaster and Palmdale were sued by a group alleging a racial bias in how they allot federal subsidies for low income housing. However, Palmdale was the first to blink.
In what was described by the Lancaster Mayor as capitulating, Palmdale has agreed to turn over all of its compliance duties to Los Angeles County.
The suit arises from a sweep of low income housing orchestrated by the two cities. The cities have claimed that the sweep was designed to ensure that fraud was reduced in the system by weeding out those who were out of compliance with Section 8 guidelines. However, the NAACP says that the sweep was designed to force minorities out of the housing.
After reviewing the case, Palmdale decided to settle because it would cost less than going through with the litigation. The mayor continues to insist the city did nothing wrong.
From the Los Angeles Times:
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris on Friday called neighboring Palmdale’s decision to settle a civil rights lawsuit accusing both cities of discrimination against nonwhite recipients of federal housing subsidies a “capitulation,” and charged that the move “gives comfort to criminals perpetrating housing fraud in the Antelope Valley.”
The comment came a day after Palmdale said it would surrender all Section 8 compliance and policing responsibilities to the Los Angeles County Housing Authority, and agreed not to seek information on the identity of participants in the Section 8 housing program.
Read the full article here.