Board Says Its Staffing Levels Have Held Steady

Contrary to assertions by departed chief administrator David L. Baker that the Ventura County Board of Supervisors has been adding staff for self-protection in a politicized environment, staffing levels have actually held steady during the past decade.

In his resignation letter, Baker criticized the county’s chief administrative office, saying it was weak, ineffective and had resulted in a “buildup of board staff for support and informational survival.”

Board members agreed Wednesday with the essence of Baker’s assessment of the office, saying it needs to beef up budget staff and fiscal expertise to ensure that departments are held accountable for their spending practices.

But they said he was dead wrong about their own staffs, noting that the full board has actually lost a position during the past decade. Each supervisor is now allocated four full-time positions, and some board members say they get by with fewer.

Even as they move to restore order to the county’s chaotic financial situation, supervisors said Wednesday that they do not believe they need to consider cutting their own staffs.

“I think that idea stinks,” said Supervisor John K. Flynn, who has two full-time staff members, two part-time staffers and an administrative assistant.

“I would ask Mr. Baker to visit this office--I’ll pay his way down here--to see how busy we are,” he said. “We get 100 calls a day. I need two more staff members just to keep up.”

In fiscal year 1990-91, the Board of Supervisors funded 21 full-time staff positions, compared with the current 20. The cost for those positions has increased only slightly--about $132,000--during the nine years. And several supervisors said they are careful not to spend their entire allocation.

Supervisor Judy Mikels said she left one of her staff positions unfilled for some time to save money, while Supervisor Frank Schillo said he has returned unused staff salary in each of the past two years.

“Obviously Mr. Baker’s assertion is not valid,” Supervisor Kathy Long said. “The role of my office is to be the buffer between my constituents and county departments, and the staff is invaluable in that role. I feel we do a good job with what we have.”

Some supervisors said they believe that Baker’s assertion was meant to demonstrate the idea that board members have had to rely more heavily on their staffs to help provide the kind of budget analysis that used to come out of the chief executive’s office.

In fact, the CAO’s office has lost four budget analysts in the past decade, eroding the top administrator’s ability to hold the reins on department heads and budgetary matters.

“I don’t think there is any question that that office could use more personnel,” Schillo said. “I think we need more analysts to help us stay on top of things. The county would reap great rewards in the long run.”

The lack of power in the chief administrative post was highlighted several times in a scathing six-page assessment of county government that Baker used as his resignation letter after less than a week on the job.

Baker wrote that the position was too weak to manage the county’s financial troubles and shape the future of a giant bureaucracy. He recommended that county leaders switch to an executive manager position to provide stronger leadership.

Baker also wrote that there was insufficient CAO staff to “provide the strong budget support the board deserves and the county requires.”

Some county leaders trace the CAO’s troubles to budget reductions during the past decade that saw the number of staff members dwindle from 35 in fiscal year 1990-91 to 24 in 1996-97.

Cuts to the office were spearheaded by then-Chief Administrator Lin Koester, who reorganized the office and lopped off positions at a time when all of county government was having to tighten its belt.

In subsequent years, the chief administrative office has built back up to 33 full-time positions.

Chief Deputy Administrative Officer Marty Robinson, a 20-year veteran of the office, said the key question supervisors need to answer before deciding how many more employees are needed is what they want those workers to do.

“It’s not just the number; it’s being very clear about the role that they play,” she said.

“If you want the office to be able to do a lot of analysis of programs and their costs, and the long-range cost implications of board policy decisions, then it’s not just how many analysts you have, but who you have,” she said. “You recruit for strong analytical people, people with additional sets of skills.”

Supervisors say they are looking toward the arrival of an interim chief administrator to help define how many jobs, and what kind, are needed to strengthen the chief administrator’s office.

Mikels said one position she would like to see restored is that of a chief financial officer, a person who can focus primarily on budget issues and can back up the chief administrator on a day-to-day basis.

“We need that; we need back-up levels of senior management,” she said. “Certainly I don’t want to see a whole bunch of slop. But I think we need to have enough qualified people in that office to do the analysis we expect.”

Times staff writer Daryl Kelley contributed to this story.