Top CAO Choice Appears Ready to Take Job

David Baker has turned down San Joaquin County’s last-minute bid to keep him as chief administrative officer, and he appears likely to take the reins of Ventura County government next month.

Robert Cabral, chairman of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors, met with Baker earlier this week and asked if that county could offer its top manager any incentives to persuade him to stay.

But Baker turned Cabral down, saying he intended to take the chief administrator’s job that Ventura County supervisors offered him a week ago.

“I told him this has been very humbling, very gratifying and very touching,” Baker said in an interview Thursday. “However, this was never all about economics. There are family reasons involved also.”

Baker, 50, has strong family ties to Southern California. His 18-year-old daughter attends UC Irvine, and his in-laws, mother and brother live in San Diego, he said.

Baker’s decision averted a potential bidding war for his services. San Joaquin supervisors had stated they were prepared to offer their highly regarded administrator a big enough raise to convince him not to move south.

“We were concerned with the bidding-war issue,” said Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long. “I’m relieved it won’t come to that.”

Ventura County supervisors are scheduled to vote on Baker’s appointment at Tuesday’s board meeting. Supervisors are expected to offer him a $157,874 annual salary, a $30,000 increase over his current pay.

With benefits, the pay package is worth $239,832 a year. Baker would be coming in at the top salary range for the chief administrator’s classification, Long said.

“You always have to question when you are bringing someone in at the top salary, because you like to see them earn their stripes,” Long said. “But there is a high cost of living in Ventura County, and this is an 18-month contract. I think the board’s got some protection there.”

Supervisors unanimously selected Baker as their top choice to replace retired chief administrator Lin Koester during a Sept. 28 closed session. Tuesday’s formal vote comes after the county conducted background checks on their top candidate and negotiated a contract.

“We haven’t received the final investigation, but the preliminary one was very positive,” Long said. “I think we’ve got a CAO.”

San Joaquin officials have praised Baker as a fiscal hawk, leading the county out of a financial crisis in 1993 while preserving jobs. He has also been described as friendly, yet tough when necessary.

His skill at overseeing San Joaquin County’s 6,500 employees and $700-million budget, and coolly dealing with an often-contentious Board of Supervisors, should serve him well in Ventura County. The board here is often philosophically split and has feuded over last year’s disastrous decision to merge the county’s mental health and social services agencies.

The county is facing a series of state and federal reviews of its health care system as a result of the merger and faces the additional loss of millions of dollars a year in health care funding.

Baker said he welcomes the challenge.

“I just would like to have this brought to conclusion and move forward,” he said.

He is scheduled to take over the job Nov. 22.

’ This has been very humbling, very gratifying and very touching. However, this was never all about economics. There are family reasons involved also.’