Supervisors Give County’s Top Manager More Power

Despite protests lodged by one reluctant board member, Ventura County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to broaden the powers of the county’s top manager.

The board voted to give the chief administrative officer the power to hire and fire department heads. It also transferred some budgetary duties from the auditor to the administrator’s office and created a new chief financial officer position to assist the county manager.

Supervisors said they hope that strengthening the administrator’s powers will make it easier to manage the county’s 7,000-employee work force and $1-billion annual budget. They also hope it will help in recruiting a permanent replacement for interim administrator Harry Hufford.

“The person has some assurance he’ll have powers and responsibilities similar to other CAOs,” said Supervisor Frank Schillo. “It will be a clear-cut mandate for him to operate from.”

Before the board cast its vote, Supervisor John Flynn launched into a 15-minute speech warning his colleagues of the potential pitfalls of the new ordinance. He said he feared that the board may have gone too far in weakening its own powers.

“This ordinance makes me feel like I can no longer be an activist,” Flynn said. “This ordinance makes me feel like I’m just going to be a figurehead.”

Flynn said he was concerned that press coverage critical of county government had influenced the board’s action. “Let’s not be stampeded by the fourth estate,” he said.

But he failed to convince his colleagues the changes would have a negative impact on the board. Supervisors said they also were not bothered by the fact the chief administrator would serve as the official county spokesperson under the new ordinance.

“I do not read anything in this ordinance that is a gag order on the board,” said Supervisor Judy Mikels.

Hufford, who is scheduled to leave his post next spring, crafted the new ordinance. The changes are scheduled for final approval by the board on Dec. 5, and will take effect in January.

Hufford was hired almost a year ago when David Baker quit after four days as chief administrator. In a scathing six-page resignation letter to the board, Baker complained that he lacked the authority to reign in politically powerful department heads and to correct troubling financial practices.

Supervisors acknowledged a stronger chief administrator might have had better control or even prevented problems cited in Baker’s letter. One example Baker noted was the board’s 1998 vote to merge the county’s mental health and social service agencies against the advice of the chief administrator at the time.

The botched merger cost the county more than $1 million in legal and consultant fees. It also triggered a federal investigation that found the county had been overbilling Medicare for a decade, which in turn has cost the county more than $25 million in fines, lawyers fees and other related costs.

But Flynn said the board was overcompensating in its action to increase the chief administrator’s powers. “Everybody makes mistakes,” he said. “I think we’re overreacting to the mistakes that we made.”

Despite his crusade, Flynn voted with his colleagues, explaining later he didn’t want to scare away potential candidates for the permanent county manager’s job.

“If those we interview see a 4-1 vote,” Flynn said, “they might wonder, ‘Isn’t this board together? What’s the problem here?’ ”