Board Weighs Effect of 4-Day Workweek

Ventura County supervisors said Tuesday that they want more information about the effect that the county’s four-day workweek and other anti-pollution programs are having on reducing smog before deciding whether to continue them or pursue some other alternatives.

The county implemented the four-day workweek in 1993 to meet state air-pollution guidelines, which call for reducing the number of vehicles on county roads. Almost half of the county’s 6,000 employees participate.

The shortened week was intended to help the county meet its own goal of having 1.36 employees, on average, in each car commuting to the County Government Center in Ventura. State law requires that the county increase that average to 1.5 passengers by 1997.

But supervisors said Tuesday that while the county may be meeting its goal of reducing vehicles on the road, they are not convinced that it is significantly reducing smog. Moreover, they said the four-day workweek is a major inconvenience for the public.

Supervisor Judy Mikels asked county officials to bring back more information to the board in the next few weeks explaining the effect of the compressed workweek. The board also asked for more information about how other counties are meeting their air-pollution reduction goals.