Top Assistant to Become County Counsel

Ventura County supervisors have named Chief Assistant County Counsel Frank Sieh to take over as the county’s top legal advisor next month.

Sieh, who has worked in the chief assistant position since 1996, will replace retiring County Counsel Jim McBride, 63, who announced his resignation in November after 30 years with the county.

Supervisors voted unanimously during a closed session at Tuesday’s board meeting to give Sieh the $126,000-a-year post. In announcing their decision, supervisors cited Sieh’s experience with the county and widespread support among the county’s legal office.

“I have full confidence in his ability to do this job,” Supervisor Kathy Long said.

Sieh said he was honored by the promotion and is eager to take over for McBride, who had only words of praise for his assistant.

“He’s got the temperament, he’s got the intelligence, he’s got the experience,” McBride said. “What else do you want?”

Sieh, 56, holds a law degree from UC Berkeley. He was a deputy district attorney for Ventura County for two years, beginning in 1970, and then joined the private law office of Kinkle, Rodiger, Graff, Dewberry and Spriggs in Ventura, handling personal injury lawsuits. He began his own practice in Oxnard in 1974, handling cases involving personal injury, family law, contracts, business litigation and construction.

In 1984, Sieh returned to county work, as an assistant attorney in the county counsel’s office.

Of his new job, he said: “[The county] is like a Fortune 500 company and has all the problems of one--maybe more.”

Sieh was promoted to litigation supervisor in 1986 and his current position a decade later. He is married to Nancy Sieh, a deputy district attorney in Santa Barbara County, and is the father of two adult children.

He will start in his new post Jan. 5.