Plan Approved to Streamline Sheriff’s Staff : Government: The move to save $558,000 would eliminate nine high-ranking jobs without requiring layoffs.

Ventura County supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan to streamline the management of the county Sheriff’s Department, a move that will save $558,000 next fiscal year.

The board voted 4 to 0, with Supervisor John K. Flynn absent, to approve a proposal by Sheriff Larry Carpenter to eliminate nine high-ranking jobs--including two assistant sheriff positions. Four sworn deputies will also be replaced with lower-paid civilians under Carpenter’s plan.

The sheriff said he intends to accomplish the changes without any layoffs, but he said there may be some demotions. He said he was not ready to make public all the details of changes, but he is set to begin the reorganization July 1.

“We’ve done different reorganizations over the years, but the need was not as critical as it is now,” Carpenter said. “The bottom line is $558,000. That money is gone.”

In an effort to offset a $36-million loss in state funding next year, the supervisors have told department heads to prepare to cut their already sparse budgets.

They decided in February that most areas of county government should make cuts ranging from 10% to 12.5%. But continuing the county’s tradition of buffering law enforcement and health services from the sharpest losses, the supervisors asked for reductions ranging from 7.5% to 10% for those areas.

Carpenter said he was hopeful that by streamlining his department’s upper echelon, the supervisors will spare his department from further reductions. He stands to lose $4.7 million if forced to make a 10% cut.

Supervisor Maggie Kildee said the board could not make any promises that it would not slice more from Carpenter’s budget, but she praised the sheriff’s efforts to cut management.

“This is an approach that I would like to see all of us use,” Kildee told Carpenter at the board meeting. “That doesn’t mean I may not have to do something more. But I want you to know how much I appreciate this.”

Carpenter, Dist. Atty. MichaeL D. Bradbury and county courts representatives have been asked to outline for the board in a study session next week how they would achieve the 10% goal.

Also on Tuesday, the county’s health care and social services directors presented their Spartan fiscal plans to the board during an afternoon budget workshop.

Health Care Agency Director Phillipp K. Wessels told the supervisors that he has already cut 25 positions at the county hospital to help reduce spending by $1 million.

The positions include administrative officers, records managers, radiology supervisors, engineers and clerical workers.

No nurses or doctors were included in the layoffs, in an effort to have the least effect on patient care, Wessels said.

But he warned the board: “There’s a limit. . . . We cannot afford to do more with less because we will run out of fuel.”

He said officials also hope to renegotiate contracts with doctors and cut supplies for an additional savings of $1.6 million.

County Mental Health Services Director Randall Feltman said he would have to cut his budget by $160,000 to meet reduction goals.

To make the reduction, Feltman has proposed slicing a county fund that provides assistance to mentally ill people who need money to move into apartments.

“We would have clients spending more time either living with family members or in board-and-care homes,” Feltman said.

James Isom, director of the county’s Public Social Services Agency, told the board he plans to eliminate 25 unfilled positions from his staff of 1,000 employees to cut his budget by $240,000. The targeted positions include social workers and clerical and maintenance employees.

He said the changes would not be felt by the public because the positions are already vacant. But he also warned the board that his department cannot sustain more cuts without lopping services.

Isom said the supervisors might be forced to consider cutting the popular veterans’ services program, a counseling program that costs the county $112,000 annually, if the cuts in his budget exceed 12.5%.

“I’m not suggesting today that you cut veterans’ services,” Isom told the board. “I’m just pointing out to you that there are not a lot of options left.”