Board Says Depiction of Chaos Is Overblown

Ventura County supervisors said Tuesday that a depiction of county government as “near financial chaos” is overblown and that they are already taking steps to deal with a ballooning deficit and vacuum in leadership.

Supervisor John K. Flynn said a sweeping denunciation of county fiscal practices by former Chief Administrative Officer David L. Baker does not put the magnitude of an expected $5-million deficit this year into perspective. The county has faced far larger shortfalls in its nearly $1-billion budget and always found a way to deal with them, said Flynn, a 23-year board member.

“The county is not going broke,” he said. “People will continue to get paid. We will continue to operate. This is not an Orange County-like bankruptcy situation. We have problems, but we have ways to overcome them.”

The board’s emerging strategy took shape Tuesday when supervisors unanimously voted to offer a short-term contract within the next month to a “strong executive” willing to come in and make the deep cuts necessary to balance the county’s budget.

Supervisors will ask a state organization to supply the board with a list of retired government executives willing to work with the board for the next six months to a year and make a selection from them.

After the current fiscal crisis has passed, the board will search for a permanent chief executive to replace Baker, who quit after four days on the job, Supervisor Judy Mikels said.

Bert Bigler, the county’s deputy administrative officer, was chosen to serve as interim administrator until the retired executive is found.

“We need someone right now,” Mikels said after a 90-minute closed session. “We agreed and believe that there are probably several retired executives out there. We need someone, as we start this budget process, who will give us the ability to move on.”

Supervisors appeared intent on assuring county government’s 7,100 employees and the public that major financial and structural problems identified by Baker are well-known to them and are already being addressed.

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In a six-page analysis, Baker asserted that reduced revenues were creating a cash flow problem that raised doubts about the county’s ability to meet its payroll.

Baker also concluded that the chief administrator’s position was too weak to be effective, that Auditor-Controller Tom Mahon has done a poor job informing the board of the county’s true fiscal position, and that, as an outsider, Baker would have never been able to muster the support needed to institute reforms.

Mikels, however, noted that the board in October approved initial strategies to begin dealing with this year’s deficit. And supervisors intended to tackle where and how to make cuts with Baker by their side, she said.

“I think it was highly overreactive for someone who has been here four days,” she said. “Is there some validity to what he says? Yes. But I hired him to help fix those problems.”

An experienced government manager, however, indicated that Baker had some flaws coming into the job that might explain why he appeared to overreact to a government that was larger and more complex than the one he left in San Joaquin County.

“He’s a bright and capable guy, but he had a forest-and-trees problem,” said the manager, who did not want to be identified. “He was a great bureaucrat who could cross every T and dot every I but could not discriminate between what was a big problem and what was a small problem.”

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Supervisor Frank Schillo praised Baker’s “bravery” in bringing the fiscal issues to the forefront. Schillo suggested that Baker decided to back out when it became clear that one of his first actions would be to draw up a list of programs and employee positions to be cut.

“He likely saw that cutting all this stuff and being the bad guy is not his style,” he said.

Next Tuesday, board members are expected to start looking at ways to balance this year’s budget. They have not ruled out drastic program cuts or layoffs.

But Schillo said he doesn’t expect any final decisions to come until early next year, after the retired government executive has arrived and had a chance to assess things.

“The board is going to have to make the policy decisions, but I think we need a strong executive who can assess our organization and provide choices for what we need to do,” he said. “I don’t think anyone has developed those at this point.”

While he said Baker’s resignation provided a wake-up call for the county, Schillo said it’s important to let county employees and the public know that county government isn’t about to collapse.

“It’s not like we’re actually going to miss payroll at this point in time, but I think there is the potential that if we don’t do anything, we could be in that position,” he said.

Supervisor Kathy Long will meet with officials from the California State Assn. of Counties this week to solicit a list of retired candidates for the job of interim CAO, officials said. Supervisors will interview finalists and hope to have someone on the job within three or four weeks, Mikels said.

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The county hired a retired city manager to serve as interim library director while supervisors conducted a national search to fill the permanent post, Flynn said. That process can be repeated successfully in this case if supervisors choose the right person, he said.

They will be looking for someone with a strong background in county finances who is not afraid to stand up to department heads who might try to protect their budgets, Flynn said.

“We need someone who can stand up to those who like to make end runs around the chief administrator and go directly to the board,” he said.

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Times staff writer Fred Alvarez contributed to this story.

* GOING BACK?

A former boss of David L. Baker wants him back in San Joaquin County. B4

* CHANGE OPPOSED

Officials oppose revamping allocation of Proposition 172 sales tax money. B5