Counsel McBride Says He Will Retire

The county’s top legal advisor is leaving his the post after 30 years on the job.

County Counsel Jim McBride, 63, announced in a letter to the Board of Supervisors this week that his last day on the job would be Jan. 5.

“It’s just time,” McBride said Thursday. “I’ve been here a long time.”

McBride joined the county in 1970 as assistant county counsel and was promoted to the department’s top spot 14 years later.

McBride has advised Ventura County on a number of controversial issues, including the board’s recent attempt to block Measure O, which sought to take control of $260 million in tobacco settlement money from the county. McBride was instrumental in helping the county hammer out the wording of the initiative that would appear before voters. Despite a $2.4-million campaign to support it, the measure was defeated last week.

McBride said it’s not the issues he’s faced that will linger with him.

“I think that you take with you more the relationships you’ve built,” he said. “It’s been an exciting place to work, but more than anything I’ll remember the people, the personalities. They are just quality people.”

The Ojai resident said his plans include lots of travel with his wife, Karen, and returning to hobbies set aside in years past, like photography and painting.

“You know, just the things you can’t quite fit in when you are working all the time,” McBride said.

The Board of Supervisors will meet in closed session on Tuesday to begin discussing a replacement for McBride.