The supervisors, most who do not live in Antelope Valley, approved a settlement agreement related to allegations of widespread discrimination against recipients of vouchers for federally subsidized housing in the Valley. The vote was 4-1, with Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who represents the area, opposed. Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris also condemned the county’s actions.

“The public should be outraged that the county entered into a backroom deal to settle litigation (litigation that the county isn’t even a party to) which will hurt hundreds of thousands of law-abiding families and seniors. The meritless settlement by county counsel will drive up costs for everyone and sends the wrong message to the public – that committing housing fraud is acceptable. This proposed settlement is not warranted based on the facts of the case and lets criminals know that they can act with impunity,” Parris said.

The NAACP and members of a local group known as The Community Action League  accused Antelope Valley officials and sheriff's deputies of systematically intimidating and harassing low-income black and Latino residents in Section 8 housing in an effort to force them out of the community.

The complaints came after the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale agreed to pay for three additional inspectors that respond to complaints by citizens of possible Section 8 fraud. Previously, there were only had three inspectors to cover the entire county.

TCAL and the NAACP filed the suit in June against the two cities after holding what they described as “town hall meetings.” Many of those who spoke at those meetings had committed a crime and had lost their Section 8 housing funds and been taken off the program due to fraudulent activities.

Although not included in the litigation and fearing the two groups would also sue them, the county settled with TCAL and NAACP.

Authorities from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Los Angeles County Housing Authority have agreed to stop the compliance checks, leaving just the three original inspectors to investigate any wrongdoing throughout the county.

The two groups claimed that residents in government-subsidized housing in Lancaster and Palmdale were three times more likely to be investigated than those in the rest of the county and accounted for more than 50 percent of the county's terminations.

Officials from the two cities reminded the supervisors during a public hearing last year that there were three extra inspectors in Lancaster and Palmdale and that they were fighting fraud in the housing system and just trying to make sure that tenants played by the rules.

In August, Antonovich called the charge of racism absurd and pointed to the low rate of successful appeals of terminations as evidence that investigators were uncovering true fraud.

About 17 percent of the county's Section 8 tenant live in Lancaster and Palmdale, and  Parris has suggested that the percentage is too high, because Antelope Valley accounts for only four percent of the county's population.

Parris also said that crime dropped as housing fraud was uncovered and beneficiaries were dropped from the rolls.

Tenants, who had been removed from the Section 8 program said they intimidated by as many as 10 armed sheriff's deputies appearing in unannounced raids of their homes.

The settlement means that TCAL and the NAACP won’t sue the county, but the lawsuits against Lancaster and Palmdale will continue.

According to the settlement there will be:

-- a three-year moratorium on ``enhanced investigation agreements'' in Palmdale and Lancaster (which ends any thorough investigations that could uncover fraud for three years)

-- assurances that county officials will respect Section 8 tenants' rights to privacy, confidentiality and  proper advance consent (there will be no more surprise inspections which will give tenants time to get rid of any illegal drug activity before inspectors arrive, move out anyone who is not supposed to be living in the house, etc.);

-- acknowledgement that investigations and compliance checks do not typically warrant the involvement of sheriff's deputies, though they may be needed in some cases to protect housing department inspectors (this will place housing inspectors in danger in some instances and leaving them with no protection from drug dealers or any other type of criminal activity they may stumble upon);

-- assurances that the county will provide ongoing information to Section 8 tenants about their rights to live where they choose, the compliance process and how to lodge a complaint if they feel they are treated unfairly;

-- a plan for effective training of county personnel with regard to the rights of Section 8 tenants; and partial reimbursement of attorneys' fees and costs of monitoring new protocols under the settlement agreement.