ELECTIONS / AUDITOR-CONTROLLER : Opponent Sues to Disqualify Simi Mayor

A rival candidate filed a lawsuit Friday challenging Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton’s qualifications to compete in the election for Ventura County auditor-controller.

William Baker, a certified public accountant, filed suit in Ventura County Superior Court to disqualify Stratton from running in the June 7 election for the job that pays $128,000 in annual salary and benefits. The auditor-controller manages the county’s $836-million budget and scrutinizes spending practices.

“It’s a very important position, and I don’t want somebody unqualified in this position,” Baker said after filing the lawsuit. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 11.

Baker, who has his own CPA business in Ventura, contends that Stratton does not have the accounting experience to legally qualify him for the job. “You need to have somebody who has a solid background in accounting,” he said.

But Stratton, director of the software department for Teledyne Systems in Chatsworth, said he believes his long government experience and his master’s degree in business administration more than qualify him for the job.

“We’ve done extensive research on this--I’ve talked to attorneys and CPAs about this--and I believe I’m qualified,” Stratton said. “Obviously, Mr. Baker feels if he wants a real shot at (the controller’s job) he’s got to get Mr. Stratton” out of the way.

To qualify for the auditor-controller’s position, a candidate must either be a certified public accountant; have served as county auditor controller or deputy auditor for at least three years; or possess a certificate or diploma from a school of accountancy.

Because there are no schools of accountancy in California, Stratton said he believes his master’s degree in business administration--including 10 units in accounting--from Cal Lutheran University qualifies him for the job.

Baker said he believes Stratton lacks the training to deal with complex financial matters. “They don’t want a career politician in there,” he said. “They want an accountant.”

Baker said he has a bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in business administration with an emphasis in accounting, which includes “at least 40 units” on the subject.

Baker, who has been a licensed CPA since 1989, said he had also worked for the county as a financial analyst between 1985 and 1990, including one year in the auditor-controller’s office. He said his job consisted mostly of performing audits.

Stratton said he believes the auditor-controller’s job is more of a chief financial officer, and that “accounting is only part of it.”

“In the world of big chief financial officers, sometimes they’re MBA’s and sometimes they’re CPA’s,” he said. “I think what the county needs is a chief financial officer interested in efficiency, and not just accounting.”

Stratton said he was surprised that Baker filed the suit. “I talked to him after I filed (to run) and he strongly suggested that he would be willing to support me,” he said.

Baker said Stratton had called him after the March 12 deadline for candidates to file their nomination papers. Baker said Stratton wanted to discuss Baker’s candidacy.

“He was the one that suggested I back him if I don’t make it past the primary,” Baker said.

Other candidates in the race have also raised questions and threatened similar legal action to challenge Stratton’s qualifications. They include accountants Richard Morrisset of Ventura; Clifford Wigen of Simi Valley; Scott Weiss of Ventura; and, incumbent Thomas O. Mahon, who was appointed controller by the Board of Supervisors last year after serving 20 years as assistant controller.

Stratton and Mahon are the only candidates in the race who are not certified public accountants. But Mahon meets the legal qualifications for the job because of his long experience as deputy auditor-controller.