COUNTYWIDE : Sanitation Official to Retire in June

The general manager of the Ventura Regional Sanitation District has announced that he will resign later this year, leaving it to his successor to carry out several major expansion projects.

Wayne Bruce, who took over the district in 1983, said in letters delivered to board members Saturday that he will retire from his $86,880-a-year job effective June 30. The board is scheduled to vote today on paying a Los Angeles-based executive search firm $17,500 to find a replacement.

Bruce, 57, of Ventura steps down during one of the most extensive expansion periods for the district, which processes garbage for 500,000 residents throughout Ventura County, excluding Simi Valley and Moorpark.

The district is seeking sites for a landfill and a recycling station and also is conducting an environmental evaluation of extending the life of the Bailard Landfill, which is northeast of Oxnard, beyond its scheduled 1993 closure.

“This is a good time for me to leave because the foundation has been laid for these projects,” Bruce said.

Bruce, whose agency operates on a $28-million annual budget, counted environmental improvements at the landfills as the major success of his tenure.

“Right now, the district is running very smoothly,” he said before acknowledging that hikes in dumping rates may occur in July because of the impact of recycling on landfill revenues. “With less waste going into the landfill, the cost per ton goes up, since our fixed costs remain the same.”