Supervisors Opt to Keep Retirement Benefit

A divided Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a push to eliminate a lucrative retirement perk for the county’s six elected managers after the majority said the officials deserved the extra pay.

Supervisors John Flynn, Judy Mikels and Frank Schillo blocked Supervisor Steve Bennett’s push to end the county’s practice of allowing the officials to inflate their pension earnings just before retirement by adding on a vacation bonus.

The benefit has been condemned by taxpayer advocates and two citizens committees appointed by the Board of Supervisors to review salary and benefit packages.

But the majority argued that because appointed managers receive the benefit, elected department heads should get it too. As they explained their vote, the three supervisors took turns praising the work of the county’s elected managers.

“They are loyal to the taxpayer--I think that is worth money,” Flynn said. “We denigrate elected officials too much. . . . These people work hard and I don’t see them taking long vacations.”

Under a policy approved by supervisors in 1999, Auditor Christine Cohen, Assessor Dan Goodwin, Clerk-Recorder Richard Dean, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, Sheriff Bob Brooks and Treasurer-Tax Collector Harold S. Pittman are allowed to inflate retirement pay by tacking on the equivalent of seven weeks’ vacation time to their final-year salary.

Bennett questioned the perk last year when supervisors were asked to approve it for former Auditor Tom Mahon. It works like a cash bonus instead of compensation for vacation, Bennett argued, because the elected officials have no restrictions on how much time they take off.

A Times analysis last year found that the practice boosted retirement pay an average of $6,000 a year. Mahon received an extra $13,400 a year in retirement pay when he stepped down in 2000.

County officials calculate the perk will cost nearly $1 million during the next 10 years.

Bennett last week proposed stripping the benefit for future elected managers. Three department officials--Bradbury, Dean and Pittman--have announced they are retiring this year. On Tuesday, Bennett stressed that his proposal was not intended to punish people but to end an excessive perk.

“Elected department heads have far more independence than the appointed department heads,” Bennett said. “I’m not saying the current elected department heads have not been working very hard.”

Supervisor Kathy Long agreed with Bennett, saying the perk is viewed suspiciously by the public.

“I’d much rather talk about raising their salaries than approving something the public considers a hidden benefit.”

But the other supervisors were equally adamant that eliminating the benefit would reduce elected managers to “second-class department heads.”

“This sends a message that maybe they are elected--but they aren’t worth as much as the one appointed by the CEO,” Mikels said.

Bennett was recently successful in eliminating some of the extra pay that county supervisors receive for sitting on various civic boards and commissions. Tuesday’s vote was a disappointment, he said after the vote.

“Sometimes you have to just gracefully lose,” he said.