Supervisors Hear Personnel Chief’s Budget Pleas : Money: As board struggles with $38-million deficit, director suggests ways to save and says loss of $410,000 could end affirmative action program.

Budget cuts could force Ventura County government to eliminate its affirmative action program and hamper its negotiations with eight employee unions, officials said Thursday.

During a second day of budget study sessions, county Personnel Director Ron Komers pleaded with the Board of Supervisors to spare his office from a $410,000 cut that he said would eliminate seven critical positions. County officials are looking to erase a $38-million deficit.

“The personnel department has taken more cuts than any other county department in past years,” he said. “Any more cuts would severely compromise our ability to get the job done.”

Komers suggested other means to save money, such as forming a partnership with cities to recruit employees.

Among the seven positions that would be abolished is the county’s affirmative action officer, a position that has been vacant since the beginning of the year, Komers said.

The permanent loss of this position, he said, could make it more difficult for the county to recruit and hire minorities in a number of areas, such as the county Fire Department.

Supervisor John Flynn said he is not certain that an affirmative action officer is needed. But, he said, some action should be taken to make county managers more accountable for diversifying their departments.

“All you’ve got to do is look around at some county departments and you’ll see that there is absolutely zero people of color,” he said. “I don’t want quotas. But we need to see more non-Anglos in professional positions.”

Minorities make up nearly one-third of the county’s work force, but remain underrepresented at the management level, county statistics show. Just 17 minority executives, or about 10.9%, are among the 155 top county bosses.

Komers told supervisors that the personnel department’s staff has gone from 56 in 1991 to 27 today. He said losing additional positions would also force his office to drop employee training programs, delay salary surveys and make it more difficult to negotiate contracts with employee unions.

A total of eight unions, representing everyone from sheriff’s deputies to secretaries and clerks, will be at the bargaining table this year, adding to his department’s already heavy workload, Komers said.

To reduce expenditures, the personnel director proposed creating a regionwide recruitment program for police officers, firefighters and building and safety officials.

Komers said that the county could establish one application and test for each of these positions so that it could recruit not only for county jobs but for local cities as well. For example, the county could recruit a police officer for Simi Valley and then charge the city for the service.

“I believe in regional personnel services,” he said.

Komers also suggested reforming the employee retirement system, which he said costs the county $41 million annually. He said some legislation is needed to revise a state law that requires the county to pay lifetime disability pensions to people who are injured on the job, but allows them to seek work elsewhere while keeping their pensions.

Although he could not say how much the county was paying to support such cases, Komers said “it’s in the millions.”

But County Treasurer/Tax Collector Hal Pittman, who oversees the retirement system, disputed some of Komers’ claims and said changing the law would be difficult.

It was not all doom and gloom Thursday. Indeed, two department managers told supervisors that, combined, they had been able to save the county $3.8 million.

Pete Pedroff, director of the General Services Agency, said that the agency plans to drop its self-insured program and contract with a private insurance company at a total saving of $1.7 million.

Supervisor Frank Schillo praised Pedroff for taking the initiative to find new ways to save money.

“I was very pleased with what Pete has been able to accomplish,” he said. “He’s been very creative.”

George Mathews, director of the county’s Information Services Department, said that through past reorganization he has been able to eliminate five positions. He said his department has also finished paying off some of its computer equipment, which has resulted in a reduction in operating costs.

As a result, Mathews said, his department has been able to reduce expenditures by $2.1 million.