Ex-Local Planner Gets Annexation Agency’s Top Job

A Sacramento-area planner with extensive Ventura County experience will return here as executive officer of the powerful county agency that rules on changes in political boundaries.

Stan Eisner, 51, will become chief administrator of the Local Agency Formation Commission on March 1, replacing Robert L. Braitman, who announced his resignation in October after a controversy over a sexual harassment claim against him.

Eisner, who owns a consulting agency in Placer County, worked in Ventura County from the mid-1960s until 1983, serving as assistant planning director in Oxnard and as a consultant to Port Hueneme, Camarillo and the county.

The LAFCO board’s confirmation of Eisner’s appointment is scheduled for Feb. 19 and is considered a formality, Chairman Robert Embry said.

“He has a vast amount of experience in consulting on land usage and is no newcomer to Ventura County,” Embry said. “He was able to express himself very well during interviews.”

LAFCO agencies were established in counties throughout California in 1963 by the Legislature. The sometimes controversial agencies make changes in city boundaries and political districts and oversee annexations and the incorporation of new cities.

Eisner, who will earn between $46,000 and $59,000 in the post, was chosen from a field of nine applicants screened by LAFCO board members and county Chief Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg. The board is composed of two county supervisors, two City Council members and a public member.

Eisner was one of two finalists for the director’s job, Embry said. James F. Colangelo, executive officer of the Orange County LAFCO, was the other.

“We had a choice between Mr. Eisner and an excellent candidate who knows a lot about Orange County and LAFCOs, but who really didn’t know much about Ventura County,” Embry said.

Eisner is now interim planning director in Saratoga, a small city near San Jose. He served as city manager of the 8,500-resident Northern California city of Loomis in 1987 and 1988, he said Thursday.

Eisner said he wants to return to Ventura County because his parents and children live in the region and because he likes the challenge of helping Ventura County manage its growth.

“There’s a lot of interesting work to be done in Ventura County,” he said.

Braitman said some of the biggest issues that Eisner will probably face in his first year include the proposed construction of a new Oxnard High School on agricultural land and jurisdictional questions on the new Cal State campus near Camarillo. He also cited as major issues questions on which agency should solve water quality problems in the El Rio area and whether the wealthy Lake Sherwood and Hidden Valley areas should be considered separately from Thousand Oaks for planning purposes.

Braitman, 45, has been the Ventura County LAFCO director since January, 1974, and is given high marks for competence by appointed and elected officials. He held the top post for the statewide LAFCO group from 1986-89.

But his conduct was challenged last fall when allegations by his executive assistant were made public. She said Braitman had improperly touched her while on the job. Braitman has denied the accusation.

The county settled the claim by transferring the woman to another job with similar pay.

Braitman is now working part time for LAFCO for $75 an hour. He also is working as a consultant to other government agencies and private companies.