JOB OPENING: Now that Richard Wittenberg, Ventura...

JOB OPENING: Now that Richard Wittenberg, Ventura County’s chief administrative officer, has set his sights on prospects to the north, the search is on for his successor (B1). . . . The county might want to settle in for a long haul. Officials in Santa Clara County took 14 months to decide on Wittenberg as their top administrator. And in the city of Ventura, officials have been looking for a new city manager since John Baker resigned in July. . . . Supervisor John K. Flynn favors putting a four- to six-month cap on filling the top county job.

MOVING OUT: The tough times keep coming for libraries. . . . First, it was the waterlogged books from a leaky roof. Now, Thousand Oaks Library officials are looking to move out of the facility temporarily while damage from the Jan. 17 quake is fixed. (B4). . . . Officials had already received federal earthquake emergency funds to pay for the repairs. Now, they want federal money to help with the move to a temporary site while the building is brought up to par.

MOCK HORROR: It all looked real enough, but that was just part of the drill when county emergency officials practiced earthquake preparedness during a mock disaster at Point Mugu (B1). . . . For some residents, emergency readiness was on the rise even before the Northridge disaster, said Rosemaria Coleman of Farsight International, an Oxnard based emergency-products firm. “There’s been more and more awareness,” she said.

MYSTIC BENEFIT: How’s this for a worthwhile, if unlikely, combination: raising money to find a cure for cancer while delving into mysticism--with lunch and shopping thrown in for good measure. . . . The Mystic Day Luncheon, a fund-raiser for UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation, is set for Saturday at Hyatt Westlake Plaza. Mystics will offer readings at the annual event, sponsored by the foundation’s Conejo Valley chapter. As in medicine, second opinions are highly sought-after. “The mystics are kept busy,” said spokeswoman Bee-Dee Meyer.