Interim County Chief Offers to Extend Stay

Interim county Chief Administrative Officer Harry Hufford said Wednesday that he is prepared to stay another 12 months to guide Ventura County through its fiscal troubles and the divisive fight with Community Memorial Hospital over $260 million in tobacco settlement funds.

“These issues were unexpected,” Hufford said. “My commitment was to provide some stability for the county. I thought we were pretty well on our way, but now we have the November issues and it doesn’t seem like a great time to jump ship.”

Hufford was hired by the Board of Supervisors in January on a $134,000 seven-month contract. Supervisors are expected to make a decision on whether to extend Hufford’s contract in coming weeks.

But after three months on the job, a majority--Frank Schillo, John K. Flynn and Kathy Long--are praising Hufford’s performance and say they will urge him to stay at least through this year to stabilize county government’s leadership.

Supervisors Judy Mikels and Susan Lacey were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

In closed session Tuesday, Flynn proposed broadening Hufford’s administrative powers to give him direct oversight over the budget and the ability to hire and fire department heads. Flynn said a stronger executive is needed to mediate between the often-combative board members.

“The Board of Supervisors at the present time is in turmoil,” Flynn said. “I don’t think that’s a secret. We are in turmoil and we need to have a point guard, a leader. Harry’s the leader.”

Hufford, 68, a Pasadena consultant and former Los Angeles County administrator, was hired to stabilize Ventura County’s finances and restructure its chain of command after the departure of former Chief Administrator David Baker, who left after only four days on the job.

Baker left a six-page letter outlining fiscal and management problems in county government and said the chief administrator’s position was too weak to bring about changes.

Hufford said that whatever supervisors decide, he has a standing commitment to his wife: That on April 1, 2001, “I stop working, whether it’s here or in my consulting business.”

The board has not identified a permanent replacement for Hufford. Recruitment efforts will probably remain stalled until after the November election, when one and possibly two new supervisors will be chosen by voters.

Hufford said he hopes to have a role in designing the job description and advising supervisors on candidates for the administrator’s job.

Supervisors on Wednesday praised Hufford for taking swift action to steer the county out of financial crisis by calling for a hiring freeze and a halt to new spending, and recommending that $7.5 million in tobacco settlement funds be put into a reserve fund to offset unexpected expenditures.

They expect a report from Hufford next month on the pros and cons of converting his position from an administrator to a stronger executive position, Long said.

“We intend to give Harry more authority,” she said. “We definitely want to strengthen that position.”

Supervisors say they also will rely on Hufford to guide them as the county fends off an initiative proposed by Community Memorial that would transfer all of the county’s share of tobacco settlement dollars to private health-care providers.

The private hospital in Ventura is in the process of gathering signatures to place that initiative before voters in November.

Supervisors also note that Hufford has a long-standing relationship with James Lott, vice president of Health Care Assn. of Southern California. That personal link will give Hufford an advantage as he negotiates with Lott, who has served as a spokesman for the private hospitals in Ventura County, on a possible compromise on sharing the tobacco revenue.

“I think Harry considers this CMH issue a big challenge in his life and he’s taken it on,” Flynn said. “He knows what he’s doing.”

Although Schillo shares Flynn’s sentiment on Hufford, he emphasized the need to find a permanent replacement. Schillo believes that the board should be prepared to start looking for a new chief administrative officer by mid-May.

“The thing I worry about the most is the fact that we haven’t had a permanent CAO for a year,” he said. “I don’t think that’s good. You need some continuity.”