VENTURA : Review Panel Leader Quits Over Funding

The chairman of a citizens group studying problems in the Ventura County Fire Department resigned Thursday night in protest of a Board of Supervisors decision to exclude the department from Proposition 172 funding.

Bill Esty, 83, told about a dozen group members that he is sharply opposed to the supervisors’ decision earlier this week to bypass the Fire Department and give law enforcement agencies an expected $26 million in sales tax revenue raised through the voter-approved proposition.

“It was to go to all the public service departments,” Esty said. “To give it all to one and nothing to the other doesn’t seem reasonable or logical to me.”

Esty also said he was disappointed that Fire Chief George Lund--citing frustrations with the supervisors--has opted to retire at the end of the month.

“I’ve only known the gentleman for six months or so, but I found him to be very knowledgeable,” Esty said.

Esty’s decision to step aside will leave the citizens group in a state of flux. The panel--which includes a variety of government, civic and community members--was formed in October by the Board of Supervisors in response to a critical audit of the Fire Department.

The supervisors had hoped the group, which has been meeting twice a month, could come up with suggestions to make the department more efficient. The panel was expected to issue its findings to the board next month.

Supervisor Vicky Howard said Thursday that she is disappointed Esty stepped down.

“It’s a shame he’s doing it,” Howard said. “It would be much better if Bill and George stayed on and worked through this.”

But Supervisor John K. Flynn said he believes the citizens panel should be disbanded because, he said, it has become a puppet of the Fire Department.

“It has been used by the Fire Department instead of being a committee to make independent recommendations,” Flynn said. “They have become a rubber stamp.”