Board Chairwoman Predicts More Financial Hardships : Budgets: Supervisor Maggie Erickson says state and local cooperation will ease the pain.

Despite indications that the state will give local officials more freedom in deciding how to spend state money, Ventura County should brace for financial hardships this year, Supervisor Maggie Erickson said Thursday in the annual state of the county address.

However, Erickson predicted that a new era of cooperation between city, county and state officials will make some of the headaches expected this year easier to bear.

“I think we are going to face some tough times with the budget,” she said after the speech. “No one should be fooled into thinking that we are going to have a lot of money.”

Erickson delivered her assessment before the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce as part of her duties as the new chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors.

Although the county is expected to have difficulty absorbing proposed cuts in the state budget, Erickson told a group of about 45 business owners that she is optimistic because Gov. Pete Wilson has vowed to give local officials new freedom in deciding how to spend state money.

Wilson’s proposed $55.7-billion budget for the 1991-92 fiscal year reflects $5.8 billion in cuts. But it also gives counties greater control over local mental and public health programs and provides about $900 million annually to pay for them.

Last year, the county was forced to absorb $5.8 million in state budget cuts. In an effort to recover some of the lost revenue, the supervisors voted to collect fees from cities for the booking of prisoners at the County Jail and to charge cities, schools and special assessment districts for property tax collection.

While the county’s 10 cities continue to appeal the new fees, Erickson said city representatives have agreed to meet with county officials in an attempt to resolve the matter.

Gary Wartik, executive vice president of the chamber, said he was relieved to hear Erickson talk about increased cooperation among city and county officials. “I think that bodes well for the general community and the business community,” he said.

Erickson said county officials made several noteworthy accomplishments in 1990, including locating a site for the new jail facility, hiring a new fire chief and keeping the county’s medical center in the black for the second consecutive year.

But she said after the speech that the accomplishments were tarnished by feuding among board members. “The hardest part is that we were always on the attack mode,” she said, declining to blame anyone specifically.

Erickson said residents can expect to see a new attitude among board members.

“It’s going to be a board that is not going to care about who gets the credit,” she said.

Earlier this month, Maria VanderKolk of Thousand Oaks and Vicky Howard of Simi Valley replaced supervisors Madge Schaefer and James Dougherty, who had reputations for being argumentative. Erickson, who is considered a calming influence on the board, replaced Schaefer as chairwoman.

So far, the board’s meetings have not been free of disputes.

Within hours of being sworn into office earlier this month, VanderKolk and Howard briefly disagreed about who would make an appointment to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state environmental agency created to buy parkland near the San Fernando Valley.

VanderKolk was eventually given the right to make the appointment.

Despite the feuding on last year’s board, Erickson praised some of the board’s accomplishments. The board voted to name George E. Lund to replace retiring Fire Chief Rand Scott Coggan in a move that is expected to bring stability to the department.

Despite strong opposition by Supervisor John K. Flynn, the board selected a 157-acre site off Todd Road near Santa Paula for the county’s new jail.

In addition, the Ventura County Medical Center, which was $20 million in debt four years ago, made a profit last year.