ELECTIONS / COUNTY SUPERVISORS : Camarillo’s Morgan Lays Out Themes for Board Bid

After months of hinting at a possible candidacy, Camarillo Mayor Michael Morgan has made it official: He will run for the county supervisor seat now held by Maggie Kildee.

“As the age-old phrase goes, it’s time for a change,” Morgan said Wednesday.

The 48-year-old federal probation officer said public safety and strong fiscal management are his top priorities. He blamed Kildee for failing to make tough budgetary decisions to head off the projected $38-million deficit the county is facing.

“We never should have gotten in this position,” Morgan said. “We’ve been in deficit spending a long time. We should have seen this coming.”

Before cutting back departments and programs, Morgan suggested that the board reduce its own staff and perks.

“When you’re cutting, you have to start at your own door,” he said. “You have to be a role model for your employees.”

Morgan is the second candidate to enter the race against Kildee, who is seeking her fifth term on the five-member board next March. Fillmore Councilman Roger Campbell is the other candidate in the 3rd Supervisorial District, which includes Camarillo, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Piru and portions of Ojai and Thousand Oaks.

Morgan, who held a campaign kickoff party in Camarillo on Tuesday night, challenged his opponents to set a campaign spending cap of $50,000. He said any money collected beyond that amount should be donated to the financially strapped county library system to increase hours.

“I think it’s a sin to buy an election or to spend so much money on an election,” Morgan said. “I think you should go out and work and do it the old-fashioned way.”

Earlier this month, Campbell vowed to raise $100,000 to pay for mailers and newspaper advertisements for his campaign. He said Wednesday that he has no plans to change his strategy.

“I don’t think that’s buying an election,” Campbell said of his fund-raising goal. “I think that’s the cost of doing business in today’s society. People have got to have information to see the difference in the three candidates.”

Kildee did not return phone calls to her office Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Morgan criticized the supervisor for rejecting a proposal to establish a paramedic program staffed by county firefighters. On Tuesday, the board voted to retain contracts with three private ambulance companies.

In most instances, Morgan said, firefighters are the first to arrive at accident scenes.

In voting against the paramedic proposal, Kildee expressed concern over the cost of such a program to the financially strapped county.

Morgan also criticized Kildee for voting for a perk that will pay her more than $40,000 when she leaves office. Supervisors approved the bonus pay for elected officials, which is equivalent to three weeks of vacation pay for every year served on the board, in 1989.

It was abolished in 1992, but Kildee and Supervisors Susan Lacey and John K. Flynn are eligible to receive money accrued before the bonus pay was eliminated. Flynn has said he will not accept the money, while Kildee and Lacey have yet to decide.

“I don’t believe elected officials should get severance pay,” Morgan said.