Crucial Decisions May Return to Haunt Supervisors : Politics: Votes on the budget, a hiring freeze and diversion of public safety funds will affect election support next year.

A $41.7-million budget deficit is not the only thing Ventura County Supervisors Maggie Kildee, Susan Lacey and John K. Flynn have to worry about these days.

With all three facing reelection next year--the state primary is in March, 1996--the decisions they make over the coming months on everything from the budget to trash issues could determine if they can keep their jobs.

Indeed, Kildee worries that a decision last week to oppose a hiring freeze for most county departments could come back to haunt her. Lacey also voted against the freeze.

“I told myself that I’ve got to distance myself from the bureaucracy, and I didn’t do that,” Kildee said. “That did not help me politically. But I can’t base my decisions on the budget on how (many) people will vote for me.”

Kildee and Lacey said they stand by their votes. They noted that some revenue-generating departments, such as the assessor’s office, have undergone severe cutbacks in the past and cannot keep up with their workloads.

“It seemed like a symbolic thing to do,” Kildee said of the freeze. “It really isn’t good government. A hiring freeze should be based on performance.”

But Flynn, who supported the freeze, said he did so because the county is facing a financial crisis and has no choice except to halt government spending.

The budget debate has become increasingly heated as other elected officials have joined the fray, calling on the board to reduce spending on health and welfare services.

District Atty. Michael D. Bradbury recently suggested that the county cut expenditures by doing away with its public hospital and contracting instead with a private hospital to serve the poor. Bradbury’s comments were prompted by the planned $50-million expansion of the Ventura County Medical Center.

“We should be talking about getting out of the hospital business,” Bradbury said. “It’s costing taxpayers more and more money.”

But Lacey said such decisions may be more popular than practical. She said the county would no longer be able to control costs if it were to contract with a private hospital.

Moreover, while the county provides a $5.5-million annual subsidy to the medical center, Lacey said, the hospital also receives as much as $100 million a year in medical reimbursements from the state and federal government.

“That money spins off into the local economy,” Lacey said. “So I think we have to take a long hard look at this issue.”

While the county is obligated to provide such services as health care, Lacey and Kildee said, that does not mean those services are exempt from potential cutbacks or even layoffs.

“Every program is going to come under a lot of scrutiny,” Kildee said. “They’re going to have to justify that the services being provided are effective and cost-efficient.”

“I can’t tell you where we’re going to end up on the budget,” Lacey added. “I just hope that cooler heads will prevail and that the interests of the people of Ventura County will prevail.”

Bradbury and Sheriff Larry Carpenter have argued that the No. 1 interest of voters is to protect funding for public safety services.

*

Both are still upset with Kildee and Lacey’s support of a budget last July that diverted more than $1.2 million in sales taxes generated from Proposition 172 to agencies outside public safety.

Flynn did not support the board’s action, saying it was not in keeping with the measure, approved overwhelmingly by voters in 1993 to establish a permanent half-cent sales tax to fund public safety programs.

In January, Bradbury and Carpenter launched a petition drive for a local ballot initiative that would guarantee that all Proposition 172 money goes only to departments and agencies specifically defined as public safety. Flynn and Supervisors Judy Mikels and Frank Schillo have signed the petition.

“The public spoke very clearly when they enacted Proposition 172,” Bradbury said. “They said, ‘We’re willing to tax ourselves to have acceptable levels of public safety services, even if it means some government services have to be eliminated.’ ”

Kildee and Lacey defend their support of last year’s budget, noting that $24 million of Proposition 172 money went directly to law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

They said that the board did take $917,000 from the sheriff to pay for the medical examiner’s staff and another $300,000 from the prosecutor to pay for children’s legal services. But they said the board did so only after turning down the sheriff’s and prosecutor’s offer to take over responsibility for those services and their budgets.

“In my mind, we gave all of the Proposition 172 funding to public safety,” Kildee said.

Still, Kildee and Lacey said they suspect that the issue will come up in their reelection campaigns.

“I have always been a strong supporter of law enforcement,” Kildee said. “I have to simply let the electorate decide whether they like what I’ve done or not.”

Because it is still early, no one has yet stepped forward to formally challenge the three supervisors. But several officials have said that they are interested in running.

Camarillo Mayor Michael Morgan and Fillmore City Councilman Roger Campbell said they are considering the possibility of challenging Kildee, who represents their two cities as well as Santa Paula and parts of Thousand Oaks.

And Ventura Councilman Jim Monahan said he is contemplating challenging Supervisor Susan Lacey, whose district includes Ojai and most of Ventura.

“I just think it’s time for a change,” Monahan said, noting that all three supervisors have been in office 14 years or longer.

Campbell, who lost a bid for the state Senate in 1992, said it would probably be several more weeks before he decides whether to enter the race.

But the Fillmore councilman has already managed to raise his profile by working closely with Supervisor Flynn to find a solution for disposing of west county trash after Bailard Landfill in Oxnard closes in 1997.

Although he has avoided criticizing Kildee directly, Campbell said that the longstanding trash issue has not been resolved, because of a “lack of leadership.”

*

In a press conference last week, Campbell and Flynn said they believed Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Los Angeles County offers a long-term option for disposing of west county trash cheaply and nullifies the need for local governments to build or expand landfills.

Kildee said she is in agreement with much of what Campbell and Flynn have proposed, which includes using two large recycling plants planned for Oxnard and Ventura to convert recyclables to consumer goods.

“I’m glad we’re all going in the same direction,” she said. “These are the same kind of things I’ve been talking about for a year and a half.”

Despite the rigors of the job, the supervisors said they believe that they still have a lot to contribute because of their long government experience and are looking forward to their reelection.

“This is probably going to be my last four years,” Lacey said. “But right now I still get up in the morning and I’m pleased to be going out to do the people’s business. I’ve still got that in me.”