Councilman to Challenge Long

Spurred by the county’s financial troubles and what he perceives as a lack of leadership on the board, Camarillo Councilman Michael D. Morgan announced Tuesday that he will challenge Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long in next year’s elections.

Morgan, 52, a retired probation and pretrial officer who ran unsuccessfully against Long in 1996, said his decision was triggered in large part by the financial and organizational problems exposed last week following the abrupt resignation of Chief Administrative Officer David L. Baker.

“Prior to this, I’d completely decided not to do it,” Morgan said of his candidacy. “I said it would have to be something very significant to make me change my mind.

“I think another option has to be presented to the public, another choice. I’d like to give them another choice.”

Long defended the job she’s done representing voters in a racially and economically diverse district that includes Camarillo, Santa Paula and Fillmore. She said Morgan shouldn’t be so quick to criticize her, given the fact he was a council member in 1987, when Camarillo lost $25 million to bad investments in one of the biggest financial scandals in county history.

Morgan balked at the notion the county’s problems should be compared with Camarillo’s. The city nearly went bankrupt after its investment officer wiped out all municipal reserves by borrowing money to speculate on future interest rates in a highly volatile government bond market. In Camarillo, council members were kept in the dark, Morgan said.

During his two decades on the council, Morgan said he has helped see the city through those financial hard times and could bring that experience to the county. He supported the hiring of Bill Little as city manager, who is largely credited with helping the city wipe out millions of dollars of debt and reestablish a strong financial base by luring more retail businesses to town.

Morgan said in Ventura County’s case, supervisors not only knew about, but contributed to, organizational and financial problems.

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Morgan, a Republican, said Long, a Democrat, bears a large share of the blame for the county’s financial mess because of her support--against the chief administrator’s advice--for the failed merger last year of the county’s mental health and social services departments.

The reorganization, ultimately rejected by federal officials, triggered a series of audits that exposed years of improper Medicare billing by the county’s mental health department. A $15.3-million settlement with the federal government combined with millions of dollars more in related costs are among the factors contributing to the $5-million deficit and cash-flow problems plaguing the county.

Morgan said that Long and Supervisor Susan Lacey, the architect behind the merger, should have heeded the advice of then-county manager Lin Koester. Supervisor John Flynn also supported the move.

“If you’re going to hire CAOs, I don’t think any elected official has the expertise to say, ‘I know more than the staff does.’ You’ve got to work with staff,” Morgan said.

If elected, Morgan said he would advocate supervisors ceding some of their powers--including the exclusive right to hire and fire department heads--to the chief administrator. “You’re going to have to have a stronger CAO to control things.”

Supervisors, now often split 3 to 2 on votes, “need to work on teamwork, even if you have to take your ego and stuff it in a bag,” he said.

He also suggested supervisors reduce their salaries if other budget cuts are required countywide. “When the government cuts, it should start at the top,” he said.

Meanwhile, Morgan said he opposes retooling a county ordinance that directs all Proposition 172 sales tax money to the sheriff, district attorney, public defender and corrections services. The ordinance also includes a provision that requires the county to dip into its general fund to pay for cost-of-living increases for salaries and benefits in those departments.

“Before you start tinkering with 172 you need to take it back to the public, because the public are the ones who put it in there,” Morgan said. More than 40,000 county voters signed a petition favoring the public-safety ordinance, which was approved by a majority of the supervisors in 1995.

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Morgan said he called Sheriff Bob Brooks last week to discuss Proposition 172, but did not ask for his political support. Despite his background in law enforcement, Morgan also is not counting on an endorsement from Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, who, in a sworn deposition in 1995, said he believed Morgan was a “lightweight,” both politically and intellectually.

In 1996, law enforcement’s apparent distance from Morgan stemmed in part from his controversial behind-the-scenes role in the 1992 investigation into the death of a Ventura County millionaire.

Investigators criticized him for acting as an advisor to the wife of the millionaire, Donald P. Scott, who was shot to death by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy in a botched drug raid.

Scott’s wife was a client of Morgan’s. Investigators believed Morgan advised her not to talk to them after her husband’s death until she spoke with an attorney. Morgan said then and maintains he did not, and actually encouraged her to speak with investigators.

“I advised her, ‘Don’t get mad at them.’ She said, ‘I’m going to call my attorney friend.’ I said, ‘I can’t advise you.’ I told the guys, ‘She’s calling her attorney.’ They assumed I told her that, but she was telling me.”

He said he believed the controversy was “history” and would not impede his success as a candidate.