County Urged to Trim Field for Executive Job

Officials say the Medicare financial scandal that has wracked Ventura County isn’t hampering the search to replace Lin Koester, the county’s retiring chief administrative officer.

There are 65 applicants for the job, from California and other states. The consultant leading the search on Thursday recommended trimming that list to fewer than 15, Supervisor John K. Flynn said.

Three county administrators--deputy CAO Bert Bigler, General Services Director John Johnston and Probation Director Cal Remington--would survive the first cut, according to Flynn, as well as retired Navy Capt. Stephen Beal, who as chief of operations at Point Mugu’s Naval Air Station was credited with helping save the base from closure.

Norm Roberts, the Los Angeles consultant leading the search, acknowledged this week that none of the applicants has yet been briefed on the county’s ongoing Medicare-related problems stemming from a federal investigation, or the impact the investigation could have on county finances or day-to-day operations.

These issues are certain to define the obstacles Koester’s replacement will face. Although local applicants are familiar with the situation, candidates from outside the area may not be.

Once finalists are selected and interviewed by the county Board of Supervisors, officials may have a better sense of who is really serious about the $150,000-a-year job, in light of the quagmire let loose by the Medicare fraud investigation.

The county’s tab so far as a result of that federal investigation is $15.3 million, and could grow.

Problems began after the county voted last year to merge its health and social services agencies. The vote was rescinded months later, when it became clear the new structure violated Medicare billing rules.

But the merger set off a series of investigations, revealing fraudulent billing dating back to 1990. Investigators contend bills were submitted under doctors’ names although lower-paid workers actually had provided the services. Whether the county’s 43 public health clinics now meet federal Medicare billing guidelines is a question that puts millions more dollars at stake for the county.

“When they know they’re serious candidates, then they’ll look at the issues with a microscope,” Roberts said.

Flynn said he doubts the financial unknowns facing the county will scare away most serious applicants. “Counties in California have had worse problems that this,” he said.

Penny Bohannon, a former county deputy administrator and lobbyist who now heads the Ventura County Economic Development Assn., said the financial problems may even make the post more attractive to ambitious administrators who want to prove their mettle.

“There are some who would jump at this opportunity” to navigate a county out of difficult times, she said.

But Jere Robings, a local fiscal watchdog and former head of a taxpayer advocacy group, said he suspects most applicants will be put off once they realize what the job entails.

“All of the audits, the investigations, fines, penalties, the reorganizations,” he said. “I can’t imagine anyone getting real excited about walking into the county as CAO at this time. You’re walking into such a can of worms.”

Roberts declined to release a detailed list of applicants or his recommendations for those who merit serious consideration.

Koester is scheduled to retire Sept. 10 but has said that he would, if necessary, stay up to a month longer. If no choice is made by then, county officials said Bigler would be appointed as interim chief.

Times Community News reporter Pam Johnson contributed to this report.