Consultant’s Help Sought on Contract

Hoping to keep workers off picket lines, Ventura County administrators and union officials have launched a search for an independent consultant to assess the cost of an expanded retirement package at the center of tense contract negotiations.

Negotiators for the county and the Service Employees International Union, Local 998, met Wednesday morning to create a list of prospective consultants to determine a price tag for adding cost-of-living raises to retirement benefits for more than 4,200 county government employees. Both sides hope to hire a consultant by Aug. 8.

Supervisors hope that such a neutral third party will jump-start stalled contract talks. A breakdown in negotiations led to an eight-day strike last month.

“If we can all agree on the same person, it engenders a great deal of trust and says we are all working together,” said Frank Schillo, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors.