Now, the Tough Part

So far, so good.

The Board of Supervisors hired interim chief administrator Harry Hufford to prescribe strong medicine to cure Ventura County’s budgetary ills. He did exactly that, recommending significant restructuring of the county’s balance of power.

To their credit, the supervisors swallowed the dose without a complaint.

Now comes the tough part: squeezing Ventura County’s independent-minded department heads into Hufford’s redesigned organizational chart.

The board unanimously adopted a resolution that significantly strengthens the chief administrative officer’s control over nearly every aspect of county government’s finances and leadership. It gives the CAO the power to hire and fire agency and department heads, to serve as the official spokesman on county policy and closed-door meetings, to be present at all collective bargaining sessions, to be told in advance of all meetings between department heads and supervisors and to review any issue before it is taken up for a vote by supervisors.

Perhaps the most significant of the reforms is a shift of fiscal forecasting and other budgetary duties from the office of the county auditor to the CAO’s staff, by creating a new position of chief financial officer directly under Hufford.

That will free up Auditor Tom Mahon and his staff to focus on auditing departments and programs, in particular to make sure they are complying with all state and federal strings attached to money they receive. Such scrutiny might have helped the county avoid the costly debacle of the its decade-long pattern of improper Medicare billing for mental health services. That mess has cost $25 million so far, contributing to the current financial woes, which in turn contributed to the recent downgrading of the county’s long-term bond rating. Hufford hopes better audits will inspire confidence in credit rating agencies and investors, hence a speedy return to more favorable interest rates.

He also intends to wean the county from its expensive habit of spending more than it takes in, and to prevent department heads from making end-runs around the CAO to pitch pet projects directly to individual board members--both practices the supervisors have tolerated for years.

Each of those steps represents a major change in the way the county traditionally has done business. It will take some getting used to by the department heads and--most importantly--firm resolve by each of the supervisors.

Unanimously agreeing to take Hufford’s medicine was a commendable start but even greater challenges lie ahead. In the next six months, Hufford will turn the board’s resolution into an ordinance that will govern his permanent successor. Resistance from those who benefit from the current bad habits must not be allowed to undermine these needed reforms.

Straightening out the county’s current fiscal difficulties is crucial. Even more significant is the larger goal of building a structure that will stand up to whatever the future brings, even after veteran politician-wrangler Hufford returns to his retirement and turns the reins over to someone else.