San Joaquin County Official Hopes Baker Is Lured Back to Old Job

Now that David Baker is back on the job market, having resigned this week as Ventura County’s top administrator, at least one of his former bosses wants to put him back to work in San Joaquin County.

Supervisor Dario Marenco plans next week to ask his fellow board members in that Northern California county to consider rehiring the 50-year-old administrator, who quit his $150,000-a-year post in Ventura County after only four days on the job.

Baker stunned Ventura County leaders and employees with his sudden departure and stirred controversy with a scathing six-page resignation letter that characterized the county as being on the verge of financial chaos.

But in San Joaquin County, where officials have yet to replace the highly regarded chief administrative officer, there is at least some sentiment that Baker would be welcomed back with open arms.

“I don’t think you’re going to find a county administrator as good as he is anyplace,” said Marenco, who Tuesday asked his county counsel’s office to add an item to next week’s agenda to discuss the search for a new chief administrator.

“I think we will talk this out and hopefully make him an offer that will get him to come back,” Marenco added. “It would be hard for anybody to fill his shoes, and now we don’t have to take that chance.”

None of the other San Joaquin County supervisors could be reached for comment. Baker couldn’t be reached Tuesday, but in an interview Monday, he said he first wanted to sort out his abrupt decision.

“After I take some time for myself, I will plan what to do. My whole focus and energy has been on Ventura County,” he said. “I’m tired and my wife is tired.”

But officials in San Joaquin County, which has a population of 550,000, have praised Baker all along as a strong fiscal manager who led their county out of a financial morass earlier this decade. They also lauded him for exceptional people skills, saying he had kind words and high expectations for that county’s 6,500 employees.

And when Ventura County offered Baker a job and a $30,000-a-year pay raise in September, San Joaquin County officials quickly produced a counteroffer to try to get him to stay.

San Joaquin County officials then embarked on a search for Baker’s successor, ironically using the same Los Angeles headhunting outfit that Ventura County used to lure Baker.

That firm Tuesday was continuing undeterred by the possibility that Baker, who worked for San Joaquin County since 1991, might return.

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Marenco said he talked to Baker on Tuesday but would not say whether the administrator expressed interest in returning to his old job. But Marenco said it’s imperative to put the brakes on the search process if the county intends to bring Baker back into the fold.

“The guy is outstanding. He really works hard and is just a superb human being and excellent administrator,” Marenco said. “I couldn’t imagine finding another person like him. It might be possible, but I wouldn’t want to take that chance.”