Some Support Durand for CAO

Ventura County’s top two law enforcement officials joined Supervisor John Flynn on Tuesday in backing controversial health care chief Pierre Durand as the administrator with the right combination of financial skills and toughness to lead the county out of its short-term budget crisis.

But the other four members of the Board of Supervisors said they intend to stick to their plan to hire a veteran interim boss from outside the county, and a worker representative said county employees want no part of Durand as new chief administrator.

“That action more than anything else may lead my people to walk out,” said Barry Hammitt, executive director of the county’s largest worker union. “To force the entire county to live under the draconian measures he [Durand] would adopt . . . the employees would go into open revolt.”

But Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, Sheriff Bob Brooks and Tax Collector Hal Pittman--three strong elected department heads--said Durand, 52, is their preferred candidate to replace David Baker, who resigned last week after four days on the job, saying the county was “near financial chaos” and had overwhelming structural and leadership problems.

“He [Durand] has to be a serious candidate: The board cannot ignore his candidacy,” Bradbury said. “He’s a good man, a financial wizard and is the right man at the right time for what the county is dealing with now. Although he comes across as having a tough exterior, he works for consensus.”

Despite opposition from the other four supervisors, Flynn, who missed Tuesday’s board meeting because of illness, predicted from his Oxnard home the board will appoint Durand interim chief administrator within two weeks.

“I’ve done a little testing of the waters, and there are not enough votes right now,” Flynn said. “But that could change. And that’s my prediction. If the board wanted to pick the type of person we need now, Pierre meets all of those qualifications.”

Flynn’s comments came just one week after supervisors unanimously agreed to go outside Ventura County to find a strong interim chief administrator to help erase a projected $5-million budget deficit this fiscal year.

Indeed, the rest of the board says that’s still the plan.

Supervisor Frank Schillo is a Durand admirer, but said he believes Durand is more valuable running the complex Health Care Agency--which is struggling under intense state and federal scrutiny--than he would be as interim chief administrator.

“Replacing him would leave a big gap, so that’s why I think it’s better to bring in someone from the outside,” Schillo said. “I don’t know about the rest of the board. But you wouldn’t have my vote.”

Supervisor Judy Mikels, another consistent Durand supporter, said the health care chief is extremely talented and could do a good job as interim boss, but that his appointment would only cause more friction among county officials, department heads and employees. For that reason, she said, she cannot support his appointment.

“Is he qualified to do the job? Absolutely. But I don’t think it would solve the problem. No matter how qualified and talented he is, it would be pretty difficult to accomplish anything because he would be questioned every step of the way,” Mikels said. “Quite frankly, I don’t know why he would put himself through that.”

Outside Candidate Still Favored

Mikels said the board needs to stick to its original plan and hire an interim county administrator and make the tough budget decisions necessary.

Supervisor Susan Lacey, who directed an agency merger that temporarily took the mental health services out of Durand’s control last year, said after the board’s personnel session Tuesday morning that Durand was never discussed.

“Frankly, we have not discussed anybody from the inside,” she said. “All the [candidates] I’m aware of are all outside. That is where I believe we’re going, and that’s what we’ve been in the process of doing.”

Supervisor Kathy Long, who also favored the failed merger, said she does not support a Durand appointment.

“We’re moving ahead with what the board decided to do last week,” she said.

But Flynn said he has decided it is ridiculous to spend the time and effort finding a good budget-oriented replacement when Durand, a former chief deputy auditor, is available. But he acknowledged he would need to persuade Hammitt that Durand would be good for everyone in the interim job.

“Pierre is not popular among the Barry Hammitts of the world,” Flynn said. “So I would have to sit down with Barry and get some input from him.”

Durand would not comment except to say, “I’m going to do whatever is necessary to help the Board of Supervisors.”

Durand’s selection as the interim CAO would be ironic because the Health Care Agency was cited prominently in Baker’s scathing recitation of problems that prompted him to leave Ventura County. Durand’s agency is known for “withholding information, untimeliness and a reluctance to place information in writing where greater accountability standards can be satisfied,” Baker’s resignation letter stated.

“There has been no withholding of information,” Durand said in an interview.

He said he has informed the board of about $4 million in extra costs incurred within his department as they have developed in recent months, and, he said, the information has been piecemeal only because the events did not occur all at once.

County supervisors said last week they wanted to hire an outside administrator with budget expertise to make tough cuts, then to be replaced by a new permanent top administrator.

Durand had not been considered a likely candidate for the interim slot because the fill-in boss would be essentially a “hatchet man” hired to cut jobs. But Durand supporters said Tuesday he might be interested if he could fill the interim post for a longer time--perhaps 18 months or two years--since he plans to retire anyway from county government in the not too distant future.

Tax Collector Pittman, who worked with Durand in the auditor’s office 15 years ago, said his former colleague is perfect for the job.

“I think he is the most financially astute and brilliant financial manger we have in this county,” Pittman said. “If it were left up to me, that is exactly the person I would choose for the job. He has a grasp of the total situation and years of experience. His analysis is just the best I’ve seen. Do you want results or not? Point Mr. Durand in the right direction and he will do what you ask him to do.”

Record of Budget Expertise Cited

Sheriff Brooks said Durand’s budget expertise is what the county needs at the top.

“He’s got a local track record and local proven success,” Brooks said. “He has the qualities you’d be looking for.”

Durand is credited with pulling the county hospital--which was wallowing in a $40-million debt--into solvency after taking over as administrator in the mid-1980s. In 1995, he replaced Phillipp Wessels as boss of the larger Health Care Agency. A rift developed between Durand and leaders in the Mental Health Agency, which was under his control.

That prompted Lacey to propose a merger last year of the county mental health and social service agencies, which would put mental health under a new boss. Durand opposed the merger, but the board approved it on a 3-2 vote, then reversed itself. A series of state and federal investigations prompted by the merger have cost the county $11 million this year alone, and will cost the county at least $12 million more over next four years.

Durand’s supporters say he has been unduly tarnished by the board’s misguided action. But at least some officials and former county employees are not impressed with Durand’s qualifications.

Penny Bohannon, former legislative analyst in the chief administrator’s office, said Durand pulled the county out of debt basically by speeding up collections and collecting bills long overdue.