Top Administrator Resigns After Only 4 Days on the Job

After only four days on the job, Ventura County Chief Administrative Officer David Baker resigned Monday, sending a scathing six-page assessment of county government to his bosses that said the “problems are overwhelming and there is near financial chaos.”

The unexpected resignation left county officials stunned and facing a crisis in leadership. One supervisor said that with the county already facing major financial problems stemming from its $15.3-million settlement of a Medicare lawsuit, Baker’s departure is like “a five-star general leaving in the middle of battle.”

Baker, 50, who took over the Ventura administrator’s post Nov. 22 after leaving the same job in San Joaquin County, sent supervisors a blistering assessment of problems he said he was unaware of when he agreed to take the job. The assessments include:

* A cash-flow problem that has raised the auditor’s concerns about the county’s ability to meet payroll for its 7,100 employees;

* The historically weak role of the chief administrative officer compared to the Board of Supervisors and department heads;

* A health care agency that is known for “withholding information, unresponsiveness, untimeliness and a reluctance to place information in writing where greater accountability can be satisfied”;

* Inadequate planning for long-term building projects, such as a new juvenile hall;

* A general atmosphere of fear for “good employees” to speak out on the need for better performance;

* Philosophical and personal divisions on the five-member Board of Supervisors.

Baker apparently wrote the letter Saturday after working four days. Copies of the letter were faxed to each of the supervisors early Monday. Many county officials were shocked by his sudden departure, saying there was no indication of his plans last week.

But several officials said they agreed with many of Baker’s conclusions. Supervisor Frank Schillo has been concerned about many of the same issues that Baker raised in the letter, chief among them the county’s fiscal health.

Schillo cited the county’s failed attempt last year to merge its mental health and social services agencies as an example of the kind of financial decisions that have plagued the county over the last year.

In addition to the $15.3-million settlement of a civil fraud case relating to Medicare billings, the county is facing the loss of additional millions. On Monday, the county auditor disclosed that a $2-million deficit forecast for this fiscal year has grown to $5 million.

Moreover, Schillo said, individual county departments, and the board as a whole, have lacked the foresight to understand the predicament.