Supervisors Hold Off Final Review of Panel on Perks : Government: A taxpayers’ group criticizes the county personnel director for contacting only four of nine prospective members.

After two weeks of controversy, Ventura County supervisors temporarily delayed plans Tuesday to finalize the creation of a blue-ribbon advisory panel to resolve how much should be paid to top county officials.

Although members of the Board of Supervisors had expected to review the final makeup of the citizens panel at their Tuesday meeting, county Personnel Director Ron Komers informed Supervisor Vicky Howard that he had been able to contact only four of nine potential committee members during the last week.

The delay prompted criticism from members of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn., who questioned why Komers should have had so much difficulty reaching a majority of prospective panel members by telephone.

Executive Director H. Jere Robings said association members are considering contacting the potential panelists themselves if they suspect any further delays.

“We may not wait for Mr. Komers,” Robings said. “We may move ahead and contact other individuals and get this started . . . Maybe we could at least get a quorum.”

Taxpayers President Lindsay Nielson, who was asked by the county to serve on the panel, said he is concerned that the committee will not have enough time to adequately study the matter if the county does not move quickly.

The supervisors have requested that the committee finish its report by Dec. 15.

“If we are going to (be) fact-finding, I’m concerned about the time frame,” Nielson said. “I understand that people are busy and they might be out of town, but we need to get going on this. It takes time to do whatever it is we are supposed to do.”

But Komers said he was confident that he could get through to all the potential committee members by today. As of Tuesday afternoon, he said he had been able to reach more than four, but he declined to disclose which ones had agreed to join.

“I’ll announce it as soon as I get finished with the task,” he said.

Komers said several potential members were away on business last week, slowing the process.

Howard called on the taxpayers’ association to have more patience.

“The taxpayers’ group should just allow us to proceed ahead,” she said. “They need just a little patience.”

On Oct. 6, the supervisors agreed on the following prospective members for the committee, in addition to Nielson:

Los Robles Medical Center Administrator Robert Quist, Bank of A. Levy President Marshall Milligan, Ventura County National Bank President Bradley Wetherell, Ventura County Economic Development Assn. President Stacy Roscoe, retired Superior Court Judge Jerome Berenson, Ventura County Bar Assn. President Roger Myers, and the personnel director from either GTE California Corp. or Amgen in Newbury Park.

Quist, Milligan, Wetherell, Roscoe and Nielson told The Times last week that they would be willing to serve on the committee. Myers said he would consider joining if it did not take too much time.

Officials for GTE said Tuesday that James Poling, the company’s vice president of human resources, has turned down the county’s request to serve on the committee because of time restraints. Presiding Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren has also declined the county’s request to head the panel, saying it would be a conflict of interest.

The decision to form the committee came a week after the county disclosed that top elected officials and the chief administrative officer received more than $270,000 in vacation, longevity and education benefits and thousands of dollars in financial perks on top of their regular salaries.

Although Howard said she had hoped to present the final list of panel members to the board Tuesday, she said she is pleased with the county’s progress in pulling the group together.

“It’s coming together very nicely,” she said.

She said she plans to request that Komers present the names of the panelists to the supervisors at their meeting next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Komers has sent a memo to all the top county officials asking them to put together detailed descriptions about their jobs for members of the committee.

“Much of the information which has been prepared in the past, in my opinion, does not adequately express the complexities and responsibilities (of) your job/department,” he wrote. “I think it imperative that you review the material prepared for the grand jury, the formal organization charts, and provide whatever other supplemental information necessary to adequately communicate the responsibility, complexity and fine job you do for the county.”