Backup Team : Government: County supervisors say they rely heavily on their assistants, but those positions could be cut because of budget considerations.

Doug Johnson is well aware of the influence he wields as a behind-the-scenes player in Ventura County government’s political arena.

When he wants a question answered by the county’s top staff, he usually receives a response immediately. When his boss, Supervisor Maria E. VanderKolk, can’t attend a community event or a committee meeting, Johnson takes her place.

The 29-year-old political insider is part adviser, diplomat, strategist and civics teacher. As one of 15 assistants hired to help the county supervisors, Johnson sees himself as VanderKolk’s “ambassador.”

Each supervisor has hired three assistants to help with everything from constituents’ questions to big-time county decisions.

Paid up to $47,000 a year plus perks, the aides can be as vocal and as influential as their bosses will allow.

“I didn’t want ‘yes’ men and women,” said Supervisor Vicky Howard.

VanderKolk added: “I wanted a point of view for something that is not my own. On the major issues that affect my office, a lot of my staff is involved. Remember President John F. Kennedy’s brain trust? That’s what I’ve tried to do.”

Almost all of the 15 assistants are well-educated, but most are political novices.

In addition to receiving their salary, the assistants enjoy many of the financial benefits offered to the county’s top management. They receive $350-a-month car allowances, they can cash in on unused vacation time and they receive added compensation for having a degree. In addition, they can earn longevity pay if they are with the county more than five years.

But the assistants also are subject to the same ethics rules applied to the supervisors.

Every year they must file financial disclosure forms detailing any gifts that they have received on the job. According to forms filed in 1992, none of the aides accepted gratuities.

All of the supervisors say they could not perform their jobs without the help of their staff, although some county sources have questioned whether it is necessary for the supervisors to have three assistants.

The aides say they spend hours combing through the county’s complex environmental impact reports, helping solve constituent problems and attending local functions.

“If anything, I need more staff members,” said Supervisor John K. Flynn. “I’m really busy all the time. We have an average of 100 calls a day. That’s a lot of calls. I need their help.”

Chief Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg added: “The county has grown quite a lot in the last 20 years. The job of supervisor has become incredibly more complex. (The assistants) are really an extension of the board.”

But as the county faces difficult financial decisions this year, the staff could be in danger of being slashed, officials say.

“I think clearly everything is on the table for everyone,” Wittenberg said. “We are facing the most painful and difficult financial problems that have been faced since the early ‘30s.”

Usually it is rare for the assistants to remain with a supervisor for more than five years.

“You burn out,” said Steve Chase, who worked for Supervisor Susan K. Lacey from 1985 to 1990. “You have to understand, when folks are dealing with you it’s because the system has already said ‘no’ to them. You are on the front line. I call it the urban peace corps. My last year, I was pretty ragged.”

Chase, like many of the former assistants, went on to other areas of public service. He is now the assistant to the city manger of Ventura. John Patton, another of Lacey’s former aides, is now the director of resource management for Santa Barbara County. Former Flynn assistant Andres Herrera was recently elected to the Oxnard City Council.

Several of the 15 current assistants have goals of becoming local leaders themselves. Others say they prefer to serve the public behind the scenes.

Johnson, who hopes someday to run for political office, is by far the most vocal. He has been known to take on Wittenberg, a move other assistants would not dare.

Two weeks ago, when the supervisors voted to oust VanderKolk from her position on the board’s budget committee, Johnson speculated that Wittenberg may have been behind the move.

Last year, VanderKolk had recommended budget cuts for Wittenberg’s office--a decision Johnson believed caused bad feelings. Wittenberg denied any involvement in VanderKolk’s removal from the panel and criticized Johnson for making the remarks.

But Johnson said: “Sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe in and you have to disagree. Maria gives me the liberty to do the best job I can, and that includes speaking out.”

All five supervisors have sought to make sure their staffs are as diverse as possible.

In addition to including Johnson, a Republican who worked for former Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer, VanderKolk has also employed longtime Ojai environmentalist Russ Baggerly and staunch Democrat Lenora Kirby.

Kirby, who has a bachelor’s degree in geography, met VanderKolk while they both were members of the environmental group Save Open Space and helped her with her campaign.

Baggerly, a Republican, was a frequent critic and legal opponent of the county on issues of growth and pollution when he met VanderKolk in 1990.

Her first act as a supervisor-elect was to appoint Baggerly as her senior aide. He is largely responsible for analyzing environmental impact reports to make sure they comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.

“Russ is my environmental guru,” VanderKolk said.

Supervisor Maggie Kildee’s assistants include former Santa Paula City Councilman Al Escoto, Camarillo businesswoman Kathy Long and former newspaper reporter Curtis Updike.

“Each bring a new perspective,” Kildee said. “There are two major things they do for me. They help with the constituents and they do the groundwork reading from me on the issues that come to the board. That gives me the benefit of at least three other opinions.”

But sometimes the job can become tedious.

“It gets challenging,” Long said. “This can be a seven-day-a-week job. I probably spend a minimum of two nights a week at meetings. One of our key things is to keep our ear to the ground with the constituents.”

Lacey has given her aides a lot of independence. The aides are allowed to speak out on issues and sometimes make decisions on small matters.

Senior assistant Joan F. Province specializes in social service issues--one of Lacey’s top priorities. Steven Offerman, a former county planner, handles all planning and land use issues for the supervisor. And Edward D. Webster, an engineer, takes care of transportation and air pollution control matters.

“I don’t mean this unkindly, but we’re at the mercy of a bureaucracy,” Lacey said. “If you have your own experts, it helps you to be independent.

“Do they have influence? They have to. You grow to have respect for their ideas. That doesn’t mean you always agree with them. But you respect them.”

In addition to helping solve problems with foster care and child support, Province serves as Lacey’s office manager. She also sits in for Lacey on the county’s Mental Health Advisory Board.

“I help people receive their benefits when the system has failed in some way,” said Province, who has a master’s degree in public administration. “We can’t always tell them what they want to hear. But, I try to pride myself on at least being here to listen. I never know from one phone call to the next what kind of problem will present itself.”

Once Province was able to save the life of a dog who was impounded by the county’s animal control officials after the dog’s owner was arrested.

“The man had been picked up for DUI and the dog was in his truck,” Province said.

The man was unable to pick up the dog from the county kennel by the deadline. The man turned to Lacey’s office for help.

“He called up crying,” Province said. “I was able to negotiate with animal regulators not to put the dog to sleep. Something like that makes you feel really good.”

Flynn said he hired staff members who are “reflective of the ethnic diversity” of his district, which includes Oxnard. Among his assistants are Indian-born Rosann Gallien and Edward S. Sajor, a Filipino. Flynn’s staff also includes Robert Cote, who is white.

Cote has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and specializes in transportation issues. Gallien, who recently passed the bar exam, handles issues dealing with the Oxnard area. Sajor, who has a bachelor’s degree in law and society, keeps tabs on the El Rio area.

During the recent rain storms, Sajor went out to El Rio in the middle of the night to make sure homes were not flooded.

“I just find myself going out there to make sure everything is OK,” he said.

Following her election two years ago, Supervisor Howard said she interviewed 30 applicants before deciding on her three aides.

“When you start out as supervisor, one of the toughest things was trying to visualize what you are going to need in a staff,” Howard said. “I was looking for people who could add to the knowledge that I have.”

Howard’s staff includes Ritch Wells, who has served as an assistant to a supervisor in Santa Barbara; Melody Rafelson, a budget expert who worked for Wittenberg; and Linda White, who worked as an office manger for a Simi Valley architectural civil engineering firm.

“We’re really Jack-of-all-trades here,” White said. “Everyday it’s a different crisis. Someone is having problems with the process. Someone is having problems with dogs in the neighborhood. Someone is having problems with peacocks running around.”

The topics always vary, she said.

“You have to be able to be real flexible, and that’s what makes the job interesting. We wear a lot of hats.”