Countywide : Firm Hired to Hand Out Food Stamps

Rejecting pleas from local businesses to keep government contracts in Ventura County, the Board of Supervisors has authorized the county’s Public Social Services Agency to hire a Santa Ana firm to run a new food stamp distribution program.

The supervisors voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to award the contract--worth almost $49,500 over four months--to Continental Currency Services Inc. The company will establish and run a computerized, over-the-counter distribution system, handing out food stamps at special offices rather than mailing them. The board will review the contract in four months.

Supervisors John K. Flynn and Maria VanderKolk opposed the move, arguing that the county has an obligation to nurture local businesses, even if that means hiring a less experienced firm or accepting a slightly higher price.

But Supervisors Susan K. Lacey, Maggie Kildee and Vicky Howard voted for the contract, citing Continental Currency’s 19 years of experience running food stamp programs in Los Angeles and Nevada. Continental Currency manages almost three-fourths of the food stamp outlets in Los Angeles.

The company will open offices in Oxnard, Ventura and Simi Valley within 60 days of signing the contract.

As part of an effort to modernize distribution, the 13,000 food stamp clients in Ventura County will receive plastic, magnetically encoded cards that they will use like automated banking cards to withdraw their coupons from the offices each month.