7 Directors Named for New Job Centers

County officials Tuesday announced the selection of the seven directors who will head the “one-stop” job and career centers the county is about to open for its welfare-to-work program.

As part of the state’s CalWORKS program, Ventura County must help most of the people now on its public assistance rolls enter the work force.

Three of the centers will be in Oxnard, two in Ventura and one in Santa Paula. There will also be one for eastern Ventura County.

The directors are:

* Oxnard College: Larry Kennedy, a longtime manager at the California Employment Development Department.

* Central Oxnard: Kathlyn Smith, a Human Services Agency employee who managed the county’s pilot one-stop program in Oxnard.

* La Colonia: Ray Gonzales, a small-business owner and city planning commissioner.

* Santa Paula: Jaime Casillas, the dean of off-campus programs in Santa Paula for Ventura College.

* East County: Connie Clay, currently Supervisor Judy Mikels’ chief of staff.

* West Ventura: Lauri Flack, a private business consultant and founder of the Westside Community Council.

* Ventura College: Kay Faulconer, dean of community, resource and economic development at Ventura College.

County supervisors told the directors--whom Supervisor Kathy Long dubbed the “Magnificent Seven”--that they have their work cut out for them.

“Change the image” of welfare recipients, Supervisor John Flynn told the group. “Erase the stigma. You were hired, in essence, to do just that, and there are ways to do it.”