County to Weigh Pact Extensions for 2 Officials

Ventura County supervisors, attempting to keep recruiters at bay, will consider Tuesday a four-year contract extension for county Chief Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg.

Wittenberg still has 2 1/2 years left on his current contract, but supervisors Maggie Erickson Kildee and John K. Flynn have recommended extending the agreement to mid-1998.

The Board of Supervisors will also consider a four-year contract extension for veteran County Counsel James L. McBride, whose contract expires in about a year.

The proposals follow by just two months a sharp attack on both officials by Flynn. He accused Wittenberg and McBride of wielding undue influence over other supervisors in the reapportionment process, but later publicly apologized.

“I have been a recent critic, that’s for sure,” Flynn said. “But that doesn’t mean their overall performance hasn’t been outstanding.”

Wittenberg, 51, became the county’s chief executive and the board’s principal adviser in 1979. McBride, 54, has been the county’s top legal adviser since 1985. Both have worked for the county for more than two decades.

Wittenberg did not request the contract extension or threaten to leave his $123,600-a-year post if he did not receive long-term security, Flynn and Erickson Kildee said.

But Wittenberg should be given that security out of fairness and to discourage other government agencies that consistently try to lure him away, the supervisors said.

The extension is offered now, Erickson Kildee said, because Santa Barbara County and the County Supervisors Assn. of California recently asked Wittenberg to apply to be their top administrator.

“We’re not going to be able to raise anybody’s pay,” Erickson Kildee said, citing budget constraints. “And this is a way to say, ‘You’re doing a good job. We don’t want you to go anywhere else. And we don’t want the rest of the world looking at you.’ ”

In her letter to the board, Chairwoman Erickson Kildee said that even as other counties have staggered under budget cuts, Ventura County has been well run by Wittenberg.

“The good standing of this county is in large part due to the efforts and abilities of Richard Wittenberg and his team of managers,” she said.

In proposing the new contract, supervisors are following a pattern first set in the mid-1980s, after Wittenberg applied to be chief executive in Los Angeles County--and almost got the job.

The board offered Wittenberg his first four-year contract in 1986, as recruiters from other jurisdictions, especially San Diego County, actively tried to hire him away, supervisors said. The same year, he served as president-elect of the statewide county chief executives association.

In late 1989, Wittenberg’s first four-year deal was extended until mid-1994.

No Ventura County executive received a pay increase this year as a cut in state allocations forced supervisors to cut most department budgets by at least 3%.

But, with a salary of $123,624, Wittenberg earns the top dollar allowed by the county pay scale. Along with Chief Medical Examiner F. Warren Lovell, Wittenberg is the area’s best-paid government official.

He drew about the same pay as several of the chief administrators of the state’s 10 largest counties, where salaries reportedly averaged $132,000 last fiscal year. Ventura is the 11th largest county.

Traditionally, city and county chief executives have not had contracts, serving only as long as they please the elected officials who hired them.

But the wages of many top public administrators have risen sharply in recent years, partly in response to escalating pay packages offered by private industry, say public management experts.

Wittenberg said that, regardless of the contract extension, he is not much interested in moving elsewhere. He would not be disappointed if he stays at the county for the rest of his career, as long as he continues to be effective, he said.

“But you have head hunters, and you meet board members from other places,” Wittenberg said. “And sometimes they do some very heavy soliciting.”

While a focus of the recent criticism by Flynn, Wittenberg’s style is generally non-confrontational. And, while surviving a succession of strong bosses, he has built a statewide reputation. He regularly represents counties collectively before the Legislature.

County Counsel McBride said he considers his proposed contract extension “something that is in the due course of business. Of course, I’m pleased.”

Unlike Wittenberg’s job, the county counsel position carries a four-year term with appointment.

McBride, who joined the office in 1970, directs a staff of 33 employees, including 19 lawyers. They handle cases for all county agencies and departments, advise county grand juries and some special districts.

McBride is paid $106,600 a year. In 1990, Santa Barbara County, which is half the size of Ventura County, hired a new county counsel for $115,000 annually.

Recruiters said there is a shortage of top local government attorneys because many have gone to work for private firms that specialize in municipal law.