Critics Do Slow Burn on Cigarette Tax Strategy

A commission set up to decide who in Ventura County should be getting nearly $12 million a year in state cigarette taxes is coming under increasing criticism for the way it is approaching its task.

As the Children and Families First Commission of Ventura County gets set to meet Monday, supervisors John Flynn and Frank Schillo say they are troubled by what they see as conflicts of interest of members, a lack of ethnic diversity and insufficient oversight by elected officials.

In addition, Mike Saliba, executive director of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn., opposes the commission’s proposal to spend $1.1 million this year on the creation of a university-level think tank to plot and monitor spending strategies. The money should be spent on children, he said, not a new bureaucracy.

The commission, and others like it in counties throughout California, was created in 1999, after the passage the previous year of Proposition 10. That statewide ballot measure, led by actor Rob Reiner, added a 50%-per-pack tax on cigarettes, generating more than $700 million a year. Of that, 20% goes to a statewide children and families commission, and 80% is divided among local commissions to be spent on children 5 and younger. Ventura County, with about 64,000 children in that age bracket, received $11.7 million this year.

Five members of Ventura County’s nine-member commission were chosen by the Board of Supervisors. The others are county administrators whose offices provide services for children. However, the measure gave local officials no veto power over commission decisions as it doles out money to public and private applicants. An annual audit and report must be sent to the state commission.

Schillo said his concerns start with the commission’s choice of Stephen Kaplan as its principal consultant. Kaplan was ousted as the county’s mental health chief last year because of his role in the failed merger of the county’s mental health and social service agencies.

Flynn, who said he thinks the commission is too insular, criticized the panel’s lack of Latino members.

“I’m becoming more and more concerned about that commission,” Flynn said. “I see a rather politically cohesive group that’s going to covet this money and send it in certain directions--a buddy-buddy system. The whole county is not going to realize the benefit of this money.”

Supervisor Kathy Long, chairwoman of the local commission, defends its early work. “I think we’ve done a tremendous job,” she said. The commission’s meetings and reports are open to the public and are available on a Web site, https://www.vcchildren.org, she said. Residents are encouraged to become involved.

Supervisors Susan Lacey, a member of the statewide commission, and Judy Mikels could not be reached.

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As the commission formulated a tentative spending plan, it has sponsored meetings throughout the county and surveyed 540 residents. But because the commission has yet to accept grant applications, Long said she is defending choices that haven’t been made.

Charles Weis, the county’s schools superintendent and a commission member, said the public should be pleased with the panel’s work.

“We’ve worked almost a year to come up with a concept that is, by design, flexible enough to serve all of Ventura County,” he said.

But critics say the county’s Children and Families First group has not received enough scrutiny. And because the commission is gearing up for its first cash awards--as early as this summer--they want to voice their concerns.

The commission is expected to pass its strategic plan Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Oxnard City Council chambers. The proposal, which would set criteria for awarding grants to community groups, also calls for the commission to give a nearby university, not yet selected, $1.1 million to establish a think tank to track child development issues.

About $6.5 million more would go to programs that prepare children “emotionally, socially and academically” for school. Through a formula based on child population, school preparedness and income levels, the commission has estimated how those funds would be distributed geographically, ranging from about $230,000 in the Ojai Valley to about $2.5 million in the Oxnard area.

About $1.6 million more would go to physical and mental health programs countywide and $1.6 million to family support programs.

A separate grant would create a $13-million endowment to continue programs, if cigarette tax money declines.

Though the local commission is funded by smokers, its programs don’t have to address smoking problems. The only legal requirement is that the grants be used to help young people.

They could increase day care or health care for poor preschoolers, give a group of well-off mothers a new van to shuttle children on field trips or give a corporation money to build a day care center.

The commission’s decisions are final but must be justified in a report to the state. Long said the panel plans to rely on subcommittees and a parent group to keep its priorities in line.

The Kaplan appointment, however, is a common flash point for debate about the commission.

The former mental health chief was selected from six bidders last fall to function as an advisor to the fledgling commission. His bid was the highest of the finalists, according to records reviewed by The Times.

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Kaplan resigned from his county post in March 1999, after the divisive mental health merger indirectly prompted a federal inquiry that exposed improper Medicare billing. Resultant fines and costs have topped $25 million so far.

Long, a Kaplan ally, supported the merger, as did Human Services Agency chief Barbara Fitzgerald, a commission member.

Kaplan’s original bid was $101,000 for six months’ work, although he indicated his price was negotiable. Commissioners favored his firm over two other finalists: Garcia & Simon of San Francisco bid $39,700 and Third Party Associates bid $62,500.

Kaplan accepted the job for $80,000, but his contract has since been expanded to $112,000. He said he expects to receive $30,000 more to stay until June 30, when the commission hopes to hire a permanent executive director.

Kaplan, who said he had been unfairly battered in the merger controversy, declined to discuss complaints about his contract.

Long called the grousing “old news” and said the commission believes Kaplan’s qualifications and experience make him perfect for the post.

She said it was not just Kaplan, a 25-year resident of the county, but his team that impressed the commission. His colleagues include a Cal State Northridge child development professor and a public relations expert experienced in health care.

Weis maintains that Long displayed courage--not patronage--in supporting Kaplan.

“The easy road would have been for her to say, ‘Hey, guys, we shouldn’t hire Kaplan, because it wouldn’t look good for me,’ ” Weis said. “Instead, she said, ‘He’s the best person for the job, so we have to hire him, regardless of the political impact on me.’ ”

Flynn said he doesn’t object to the hiring of Kaplan. “I think he’s well-qualified. I think Steve’s a pretty honorable guy.”

But Schillo said Kaplan’s hiring tests the credibility of the commission.

“It’s just a matter of perception,” he said. “Here’s a group who has no accountability, and they hire this guy. What’s the motive, except there’s some loyalty to help someone you know?”

Saliba, the taxpayer advocate, said his group opposed Kaplan’s hiring because of his controversial past.

“It seems there would be other people appropriate to choose,” he said.

But Saliba is more concerned about the commission’s plans to set up a university think tank.

“The money should be used directly for early childhood development,” he said. “The think tank thing should come later. You get to the point where you analyze the thing to death without ever spending the money on what it’s supposed to be spent for.”

Flynn also opposes the think tank expenditure, in favor of subsidized child care programs. The commission’s survey, which relied on a disproportionately high ratio of Latino mothers, suggests less expensive and more accessible child care is a priority.

Flynn said the commission should combine the administration of the commission--slated to cost $643,500 per year--with that of the university group to cut overhead costs.

Flynn and Schillo also object to the makeup of the commission.

In addition to Long, Fitzgerald and Weis, members include: Dr. Robert Levin, the county’s public health officer; Debbie Bergevin, the county’s work and family coordinator; Charles Watson, president and chief executive of Interface Children Family Services; Jan Iceland, an Oak Park school trustee; Julie Irving, executive director of Child Development Resources; and Oxnard City Councilman Bedford Pinkard.

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Schillo said that only Iceland, his appointee, represents the east county.

Flynn, who appointed Pinkard--a black former recreation director--wants more Latino representation.

“I’d like to see it more diverse and more countywide,” Flynn said. “There is absolutely no excuse for any of our committees today to be almost all [white].

Ventura County residents are about 60% white, 30% Latino, 7% Asian and 2% black.

Commission members say their subcommittees are ethnically diverse, and say they are committed to reaching out to find the most worthy grant applicants. The panel plans to solicit applications from the county’s poorer and less-educated communities if a representative number of groups do not apply, they said.

Kaplan said commissioners are “interested in attracting people who haven’t always been the typical players.”

Schillo and Flynn also see potential conflicts of interest among commission members.

“The people who sit on the board are [largely] people who provide services to children 5 and under,” he said. “Everyone on there will want some money.”

Watson, the Interface director, said he isn’t on the commission to line his agency’s pockets, but expects to bid on contracts and not vote in such circumstances.

“We’re not sitting there going, ‘Oh, goody-goody,’ ” he said. “We’re better than that.”