ELECTIONS / COUNTY SUPERVISOR : Monahan Set to Face Off Against Lacey : Politics: Ventura councilman attacks government waste in his anticipated bid to unseat an incumbent with 14 years on the board.

Ventura City Councilman Jim Monahan is expected to announce today that he will challenge county Supervisor Susan Lacey for her seat in 1996.

“I am tired of the waste I see in county government, and I am very tired of the way some county supervisors have lined their pockets while cutting services for voters,” Monahan said in a press release Wednesday. “It is now time for me to do something about working to change county government.”

The 60-year-old native of Ventura is expected to formally announce his candidacy this morning on the steps of City Hall, where he has served as a councilman for nearly two decades.

With his government experience and business background, Monahan said, he is well-prepared to help the county deal with its mounting budget problems.

“I’ve been a small businessman solving budget problems all my life,” said Monahan, whose family owns and operates a pipeline and welding business.

“We’ve had to downsize our business to fit our budget,” he said, “and government needs to do the same.”

If elected, Monahan said, he would work to attract new businesses to the county. He said he would also push to abolish some financial perks for supervisors, including one that would give Lacey more than $39,000 in bonus pay when she leaves office.

“When you’re elected to office, there’s no such thing as severance pay,” Monahan said.

The bonus, which amounts to three weeks of vacation pay for every year served, is part of a benefits package approved by the Board of Supervisors in 1989 for elected officials. The bonus pay was designed to bring the salaries of elected officials in line with other top county managers.

Bowing to public pressure, the board voted in 1993 to eliminate the perk but Lacey and Supervisors Maggie Kildee and John Flynn are still eligible to receive money accrued before the bonus pay was abolished.

Lacey said she has not decided whether she will take the money. But she said she has lost “more than $100,000” over the years because of her refusal to accept fees paid for serving on various county commissions.

“I’ve also not taken a pay raise in two years, even though I was entitled to it,” she said.

Lacey, who said the 1996 term would be her last, said her 14 years of experience on the board give her an advantage over any challengers.

“My greatest strengths are that I work very hard, I take myself seriously and I’m exceptionally good at bringing people together” on divisive issues, said Lacey, a resident of Ojai.

Ventura Councilman Jack Tingstrom said Monahan would present a tough challenge for Lacey because of his strong support in Ventura, illustrated by his nearly two decades on the council.

“I think he will be a very viable candidate,” Tingstrom said. “He’s devoted a good portion of his career to the city. And he’s always been on the right side of the vote for the betterment of Ventura.”

Greg Carson, another Ventura councilman, noted that Lacey also enjoys strong support in the community that has helped her stay in office.

“I think she has represented her issues, such as children and social issues, pretty well,” Carson said. But, he added, “anybody who is in elected office is vulnerable.”

In addition to Lacey, Flynn and Kildee are also seeking reelection.