CAO to Seek Board OK for Merger Plan

Looking to make Ventura County government more manageable, Chief Administrative Officer Lin Koester will ask the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to consider a proposal to merge the human resources department with his office.

Under the consolidation, three major divisions would report to the chief administrative office: regional development, budget and administrative services and human resources. Those divisions would be overseen by three chief deputy administrative officer positions, two of which would be new.

Three other government divisions would also report to the chief administrative office: welfare reform, facilities planning and support and governmental affairs.

To ensure the new organizational structure runs smoothly--and does not cost more money--the proposal would require numerous internal changes. Those include the elimination of two positions from the human resources department, including the human resources director, to offset the chief deputy administrative officer positions. The proposal would not impact the county’s general fund.

One of the new positions would be filled from within the chief administrative office, while the other could be filled in-house or though recruitment, Chief Deputy Administrative Officer Bert Bigler said. Moreover, the salary structure of the chief deputy administrative officer would be boosted by 4.9%. Bigler said the departure of human resources Director Ronald W. Komers in July for a position in Riverside County gave county officials an opportunity to look at the existing bureaucratic structure and how it could be made better.

“That was really it,” Bigler said. “The leaving of the director provided the opportunity to reexamine the way we were doing things.”