Hufford as Speaker at Fund-Raiser Questioned

In his 15 months as the county’s chief administrator, Harry Hufford has helped supervisors close a $5-million budget gap, retain control of $260 million in tobacco settlement money and generally restore order to a giant and often politically divisive bureaucracy.

Now Supervisor Kathy Long is calling on Hufford one last time--to help retire her $23,708 in campaign debts.

Tonight at the Las Posas Country Club in Camarillo, Long is throwing a fund-raiser packaged as a send-off for the veteran administrator. Hufford, 69, is stepping down from his interim post at the end of this week.

“A look back at the extraordinary events of the year 2000 with CAO Harry Hufford,” reads the red, white and black invitation for about 150 guests, including friends, elected officials, union leaders and developers. Tickets cost $125.

The party rubs some critics the wrong way. Camarillo Mayor Mike Morgan, who lost a tight race to Long in November, said the supervisor is taking advantage of a man who has already benefited her greatly.

Morgan said he believes Long was politically vulnerable before Hufford came along and that the administrator helped restore the county’s finances and credibility.

“To use that as a fund-raising effort is a little strange to me,” Morgan said. “We’d never put our city manager on the spot like that. [Hufford] is promoting her. He’s the special speaker, and it’s a fund-raiser. I know I wouldn’t do that.”

Besides, Morgan said, there is a party honoring Hufford on Tuesday night. A group of county employees is throwing a bash at the Pierpont Inn in Ventura. There will be hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. Admission: $10.

Long’s dinner features chicken in a mushroom sauce, salad and chocolate mousse cake, worth roughly $30 a plate. The rest goes to her campaign.

But campaign manager Debra Creadick said Long’s event is different than Tuesday night’s bash. “It’s not a Harry Hufford going-away party,” she said.

Since her reelection in the fall, Long said she has intended to hold a fund-raiser to pay off campaign expenses. She kept pushing back the date because of scheduling conflicts. “I’ve got some outstanding debts, so I put this party together,” she said. “I’d asked Harry to be the speaker. Timing is such now that he’s one foot out the door.

“I’m looking for Harry to give us his perspective and perhaps some pearls of wisdom on how positioned for the future we are,” added Long, who was instrumental in recruiting Hufford for the county’s top job. “Harry’s a delightful speaker with a dry wit.”

Hufford said it never occurred to him that his appearance might be seen in a political light. “If I thought my name was being used to solicit campaign contributions, I’d be disturbed about it,” he said. “But I never perceived it that way. I’m assuming everyone who’s going wants to make a contribution to Kathy. I don’t feel I’m being used.”

Herb Gooch, chairman of the political science department at Cal Lutheran University, said featuring Hufford as Long’s guest speaker at a fund-raiser does not violate any campaign finance laws. Nor does it raise many ethical questions, he said. After all, by the end of the week, Hufford will be out of office.

“But it seems she’s got her surfboard in his wave,” Gooch said. “It’s Kathy Long riding a wave of support and goodwill for Harry Hufford, and if she gets a little benefit out of it, that’s called politics.”

Long joked: “Now, now, that’s if you’re saying people are coming to the party because Harry’s the draw, not me. Let’s keep things in perspective.”