New Supervisors Seek to Trim Budget Fat : Frank Schillo: The energetic financial consultant, 60, is called a workaholic. He plans to push for a hiring freeze and to do away with little-used programs.

During his 10 years on the Thousand Oaks City Council, Frank Schillo missed a total of four meetings.

In addition to his council duties, Schillo often served on more than a dozen governmental committees at once and still managed to find time to run his financial consulting business.

Schillo said he plans to bring the same energy and commitment to his new job as a county supervisor.

“I enjoy work,” said Schillo, who will be sworn in on his 61st birthday Tuesday. “People will call me a workaholic and stuff like that. But I enjoy it. To me, going flat out from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at night--that’s good.”

Schillo said he has a difficult time relaxing.

“I will not take long vacations because I get too antsy,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to work. A real good vacation to me is about four days.”

Schillo said he can’t wait to start his new job. He said he believes he can bring a clear sense of direction and fiscal leadership to county government, which is facing a $42-million deficit this year.

Schillo said his top priority will be to tighten the county budget. Aside from pushing for an immediate hiring freeze, he said he will work to do away with little-used programs and to reduce the size of the county’s work force by eliminating some vacant positions.

“The knife is going to be sharp, I can tell you that,” Schillo said. “We’ve got to be lean and mean.”

But critics say Schillo’s record in Thousand Oaks, one of the wealthiest cities in the county, has not always been that of a fiscal conservative. They note that he is the chief architect behind the newly opened $65-million Civic Arts Plaza and that one of his last acts as a councilman was to approve more than $10,000 in pay raises for city officials.

Schillo dismisses such criticism, though, arguing that the Civic Arts Plaza is primarily funded with redevelopment money and does not affect the city’s general fund.

“It pays its own way,” he said.

As for the pay raises, Schillo noted that City Manager Grant Brimhall, who received a $7,312 salary increase in November, had not received a pay raise in three years. Brimhall’s annual base salary before the raise was $121,860.

“Giving a department head a pay raise over a three-year period--I don’t think is that liberal,” Schillo said, adding that the city has always had a balanced budget.

Proud of his accomplishments in Thousand Oaks, Schillo vows to fight for more and better county services for his city as well as other areas of his supervisorial district, which includes Oak Park and Port Hueneme.

“I’m not going to forget where I came from,” Schillo declared in the fall campaign.

Schillo and his wife, Marion, and their four children moved from Dayton, Ohio, to Thousand Oaks in 1971 when the financial consulting firm he worked for opened a new office in Encino.

Soon after, Schillo, who has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Dayton, decided to open his own consulting business in Westlake Village. Schillo Financial Corp., which employees six full-time staff members, administers pension and profit-sharing plans for small companies.

Aside from his business, Schillo has long been an active member of the community. Upon moving to Thousand Oaks, he joined the board and later became president of Manna Food Bank, a nonprofit organization that distributes food to needy residents.

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It was through his work with Manna that Schillo became aware of the need for more low-cost housing in the city. He later helped found Many Mansions, another local nonprofit group that provides counseling and financial assistance to low-income residents interested in buying homes or condominiums.

But Schillo decided he could be of more service on the City Council, and thus began his political career.

“He told me, ‘I’ve got to be one of the decision-makers,’ ” said his wife, who has remained her husband’s closest friend and confidante in both his business and government affairs.

With his business background, experience on the council and workaholic nature, Marion Schillo said she believes her husband is well prepared for his new job.

“He’s developed a lot of skills during the last 10 years on the council,” she said. “He’s a good listener, and he knows how to bring people together to get things done.”

She said she shares her husband’s interest in government and community issues, having served as past president of the Ventura County League of Women Voters and as a member of the county grand jury, which serves as a government watchdog. During her stint on the 1979-80 grand jury, one of her assignments was to observe and report on the Board of Supervisors’ weekly meetings.

“It’s funny,” she said. “I never dreamed my husband would be sitting up there one day.”