Ventura County board defends chief executive

In an unusual public rebuttal Tuesday, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors condemned a recent grand jury report as an error-filled slam at County Executive Johnny Johnston.

Each of the five supervisors spoke at length about what they said were inaccuracies and unfounded conclusions in the 14-page report, released last week.

Titled “Ventura County: A Failure to Audit,” the report contended that audits of county departments were suffering because Johnston controls the budget and has not given Auditor-Controller Christine Cohen enough money to do her job.

Board members disputed that, saying they decide who gets what. Johnston merely makes recommendations, and should be commended, not condemned, supervisors said.

Chairwoman Linda Parks said that when she joined the board in 2002, the county was struggling to right its budget after years of structural imbalance. Johnston was key in turning the red ink around to a budget with sound fiscal health, including growing reserves, Parks said.

“His staff and his office are amazing.... We owe a great debt to Mr. Johnston,” Parks said, adding that she hoped future grand jury reports would have a “greater degree of accuracy.”

Supervisor Peter Foy, who joined the board in January, said Johnston “has exhibited no desire to be in control.” To the contrary, Johnston provides information and recommendations, but backs away from decision-making, Foy said.

Foy and the other supervisors said they were mystified as to why the Ventura County Grand Jury would choose to single out Johnston, or to suggest that the Board of Supervisors had shirked its responsibility by not reining him in.

“This report impugned someone’s reputation and character,” Foy said, referring to Johnston. “As well as this board.”

David Grau, a grand jury spokesman who last week accused the Board of Supervisors and Johnston of ignoring Cohen’s repeated warnings about the need for more auditors, declined to comment. He and another grand juror quickly left the boardroom after the supervisors’ comments.

Cohen last week appeared to side with much of the report’s findings.

But on Tuesday, she read a written statement in which she said she did not agree with many of its conclusions.

It was filled with mistakes, she said, including the charge that she opposed the transfer in 2001 of four auditing jobs from her department to the county executive’s office.

When Johnston asked managers to reduce budgets in 2002, it was her decision to cut vacant auditor slots, she said. At the same time, Cohen repeated her call for more auditing jobs so that she can review internal controls within departments on a regular basis.

And she said she would be coming to the board in May with a recommendation to form an independent audit committee.

Johnston, 65, said the episode has been unsettling. After more than 40 years in public service, he feared that his reputation might be damaged by the grand jury’s report, he told supervisors.

“My concern is that I don’t want to be remembered for this,” Johnston said. “But as a person of integrity who got results.”

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catherine.saillant@latimes.com