Houses in Police Mecca Now Too Pricey for Local Officers

Twenty-five years ago a Los Angeles police officer named Bill Gaida was looking for affordable housing. He found it in Simi Valley, which became known as a bedroom community for Los Angeles law enforcement officers.

Last year a Simi Valley police officer named John Parks was looking for affordable housing. He found it too--in Palmdale, 60 miles away.

It’s all part of the rising tide of real estate prices in Simi Valley.

Once a mecca for law enforcement officers, it’s now so expensive that the Simi Valley Police Department is having trouble recruiting officers, and several on the 105-member force are commuting from the Antelope Valley.

Capt. Richard Wright said that in the last eight months three officers transferred to departments in Fresno and San Bernardino County because of the housing situation.

“The main reason they left is because they couldn’t afford to purchase a home, not because they were unhappy with the police force,” Wright said. “We haven’t had a lot of police officers transferring to other agencies. In the 3 1/2 years I’ve been here, one other officer has left because he wanted to go to San Diego.”

Wright said police salaries range from $28,542 a year for a rookie to $37,315 for an officer with five years experience.

That is usually not enough to qualify for a loan in a city where the average price of a home is $227,683, according to a recent report by the Simi Valley/Moorpark Board of Realtors. The down payment on a house averages between 10% and 20% of the cost.

Parks, 26, said that when he and his wife were ready to buy a year ago, they didn’t even consider Simi Valley.

“We didn’t need to,” Parks said. “I’m from here. I know what the prices are like.”

Parks said he bought a new four-bedroom house in Palmdale for $99,000. Although it is nearly 60 miles away from his job, the move has allowed his wife to stay home with their young child.

“No way could we do that down here,” Parks said.

Similarly, Officer Blair Summey, 31, said he moved to Palmdale four years ago so his wife could stay home with their three children. He said his four-bedroom house cost $91,500, with a down payment of $4,500.

“The only place you can find affordable housing is in the Antelope Valley,” said Summey, a six-year veteran of the Simi Valley Police Department. “I would love to live in Simi Valley. I love this town. But no way would we be able to afford it . . . not only in Simi Valley but in all of greater Ventura County.”

There are some obvious disadvantages to living 60 miles from work. The officers don’t get to spend as much time with their families and the hour and a half drive to and from Simi Valley can be tiring, even dangerous.

“When you’re driving home from work at 2 or 3 in the morning it’s easy to get sleepy,” Parks said.

Summey would agree. In August, after leaving work at 4 a.m., Summey lost control of his car on the Antelope Valley Freeway and drove over a 200-foot cliff. His car was totaled, but Summey escaped with cuts and bruises.

“I figured I was on my way to the Pearly Gates,” Summey said.

Of course, police officers are not the only ones having to cope with the cost of housing. A number of City Hall employees are also commuting from the Antelope Valley.

“We’re losing very valuable people because of the housing problem,” said Simi Valley Councilman Bill Davis, who is a candidate for county supervisor.

Davis said that during the past year the council has done several things to address the problem.

Last summer it approved a plan to provide low-interest loans to 125 first-time home buyers with modest incomes and, for the first time, subsidize their down payments.

The council, at Davis’ urging, also agreed to subsidize rent payments for 50 low-income senior citizens as part of a yearlong pilot program. Davis said there are plans to extend the program when it ends in July.

Last month the council voted to place a measure on the June ballot that would amend the city’s growth-control ordinance to favor developers who plan to build affordable housing for the elderly.

But city officials agree that more can be done.

Councilwoman Vicky Howard said the city should consider making loans or buying down mortgage rates for city employees. Another idea is to relax the city’s building code to allow unfinished houses to be sold, Howard said.

“Income levels have not kept up with the price of housing,” Howard said. “We’ve just got to turn that tide around. I think the city has a responsibility to do everything it can.”

Meanwhile, Gaida, who has risen to lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department, has reaped the benefits of moving to Simi Valley when housing was cheap. He now lives in Indian Hills, where the price of homes ranges from $350,000 to $400,000, and he has no plans to leave.

“I feel safe in Simi Valley,” Gaida said, noting that three other Los Angeles police officials live on his street. “We’ve moved three times since we’ve been out here, and I’ve always had two or three police officers on my street. Talk about Neighborhood Watch.”

That isn’t unusual in Simi Valley. The 1980 U.S. Census Bureau found that more law enforcement officials were living in Simi Valley than in any city of comparable size in the state. Of 36,320 employed adults, 952 said they worked in firefighting or law enforcement in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties.

In addition, the FBI for 10 years has listed Simi Valley among the safest cities of its size.

“It’s a beautiful place to live if you can afford it,” Summey said.