Outspoken Bennett Mum on Board Role

Newly elected Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett rode into office with a reputation as a successful farmland crusader and champion of campaign finance reform.

In his bid for office last fall, Bennett was unabashed about his plans.

He said he would consider scaling back guaranteed 7% to 10% annual cost-of-living increases for public safety agencies.

He spoke of ending the political and legal wars between Ventura County Medical Center and neighboring Community Memorial Hospital, a rivalry that has dragged on for years and has cost both sides millions of dollars.

He vowed to continue his efforts to limit the influence of big money on local politics by asking the board to set limits on campaign contributions in supervisorial elections.

But since his election in November, Bennett has been more guarded in his comments about his role on the Board of Supervisors, except to say that he will be a “team player.”

Bennett, 50, a high school educator, stresses the need for all supervisors to work together to deal with the county’s $1-billion budget and to pick a new chief administrator in the months ahead.

“I certainly won’t be saying, ‘That’s my issue,’ ” said Bennett, who takes office Tuesday. “I just won’t do that. Certainly some politicians do, but I won’t.”

In fact, Bennett has become so cautious in his public statements that he doesn’t plan to take a position on most issues until they have been debated in a public hearing.

Fellow board members are already wary of that plan.

“That’s a good idea,” said Supervisor John Flynn. “But when the news media calls, you can’t just keep saying you want to hear from the public. I want people to know my views so they can show up at a public meeting to criticize me or support me, one way or another. They can’t do that unless they know what you’re thinking.”

And those who have worked with Bennett say it’s unlikely he’ll be able to maintain his low-key stance. The Bennett they remember is hard-charging, both criticized and lauded for his unwillingness to be a team player.

“I think there probably will be a honeymoon period,” said Gary Tuttle, who served on the Ventura City Council with Bennett. “Then as soon as he gets frustrated on an issue, he’ll go his own way.”

“From my experience, he was very individualistic,” added Greg Carson, another former City Council colleague. “He wasn’t necessarily a team player. But I want to give him credit. People can grow.”

Bennett, a former Nordhoff High School teacher and longtime environmental activist, carved out his maverick reputation while lobbying for the countywide, voter-approved Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources growth-control laws, among the most restrictive in the nation. Indeed, his SOAR crusade landed him in the pages of Time magazine.

While serving on the Ventura City Council from 1993 to 1997, he led the charge for the city’s campaign finance reform initiative, which voters passed with an 81% approval rate. Bennett left after just one term on the council, fulfilling a campaign promise he made to city voters.

His supporters applaud him for not being afraid to take on controversial issues, pointing to his successful campaign finance reforms and SOAR initiatives, which stood up to developer and big-business interests.

“He has tackled some controversial issues that people who were benefiting from the old way didn’t benefit anymore,” Tuttle said. “And when the City Council wasn’t addressing these issues, he said, ‘Fine, I’ll do it with or without you.’ If it takes going to the public and putting his neck on the line, he will.”

Indeed, when pressed about how he can emerge as a leader on a board he’s just sworn to play ball with, the quick-fire Bennett returns, arguing he’s already prepared to take on the most contentious political game in town--public safety funding.

To do so means going up against one of the most powerful politicians in the county, Sheriff Bob Brooks. But the supervisor-elect said he’s spent more than a dozen hours reviewing the county ordinance that earmarks about $40 million a year in half-cent sales tax money exclusively for public safety agencies. Most of that--roughly $30 million--goes to the Sheriff’s Department.

In addition, the ordinance requires the county general fund to pick up annual inflationary costs for salary increases in the Sheriff’s Department. The increases are based in part on union-negotiated salary increases, which can run into the millions of dollars.

Bennett’s promised to suggest changes that would rein in the steep inflationary raises.

“I started talking about the inflation index 20 months ago,” Bennett said. “Nobody else was. That’s leadership.”

For now, Brooks has kind words for the incoming supervisor, whom he’s met with several times in recent weeks to discuss the department’s finances. The talks, all at Bennett’s request, impressed the sheriff.

“I think it will be a stronger board with him on it,” said Brooks, noting that he’s already met more often with Bennett than with outgoing Supervisor Susan Lacey. Brooks, however, added that he’ll be watching closely any changes Bennett suggests to public safety funding to ensure it doesn’t “violate the spirit of the ordinance.”

In another area, Bennett will have to call on all his political skills to bring an end to the contentious relationship between the county hospital and Community Memorial, which are located within a block of each other in downtown Ventura.

The retiring Lacey said when it comes to patient care, the two sides have few problems, routinely sharing equipment and expertise. At the same time, however, there is high-stakes competition between the two hospitals for managed care and state insurance contracts in what is a tight market.

Moreover, Community Memorial recently spent $2 million on a failed ballot initiative aimed at wresting control of the county’s $260 million in tobacco settlement money, a move that has only soured relations further.

Bennett, who publicly opposed Measure O, said he hopes to take “small steps” to end the so-called hospital wars, starting with a series of meetings between the warring factions.

Lacey chuckled at Bennett’s optimism. “I wish him a lot of luck,” said Lacey, who added she often tried the same thing and found Community Memorial uncooperative. “It’s going to be very difficult.”

Veteran board members said they anxiously await Bennett’s arrival. They use words like “smart” and “leader” to describe him, and acknowledge his reputation for taking charge.

“I’m hoping he is a leader on the board,” Supervisor Frank Schillo said. “We need five leaders on there, to take initiative, to get things done. I think he can do that.”

But some colleagues are also skeptical of Bennett’s team player talk.

“He says he prides himself on consensus and not fighting openly,” Supervisor Judy Mikels said. “But certain people I talked to who worked with him say he has very definite opinions on what should be done and how it should be done.”

Lacey refused to offer any words of advice for her replacement, but said she would be available for counsel.

“People have great confidence in him,” Lacey said. “So I’m not going to give him any advice. I’ve told him I’m as close as a phone call, but he’ll have to make the phone call.”