CAO'S PLATE PILED HIGH VENTURA COUNTY HAS PLENTY TO DO.

Byline: Jennifer Klein Staff Writer

VENTURA - Now that interim Chief Administrative Officer Harry Hufford has stared down a $1 billion budget that included well-publicized skirmishes with the sheriff and district attorney over proposed cuts, he can breathe a sigh of relief.

For now.

``Budgets are never-ending,'' Hufford said during an interview last week. ``In a way, it's a life unto itself. The things you can't anticipate are the surprises. But you know if you are in government, there will be surprises.''

After relaxing over the long Independence Day weekend, Hufford started looking to the fiscal year that began July 1 - a date he previously vowed would bring a major change in the way Ventura County operated.

``I had a technical vision of putting a house in order and getting in position for a new board and CAO,'' said Hufford, who helped pull Los Angeles County out of a financial crisis in the mid-1990s.

``The staff is pressing me more for a vision of what the county ought to do be doing,'' he said. ``There's an incredible amount of pride for the people who work for Ventura County, and that pride has been wounded in recent years.''

In fact, the county was under the shadow of a series of embarrassing calamities, including the decertification of its crime lab, an overhaul of its financially troubled library system, and the derailment of its plans to expand and renovate Ventura County Medical Center.

The most serious problem, however, resulted from the failed merger in 1998 of the Public Social Services and Behavioral Health departments. The fallout included a $15.3 million fine to settle allegations of a decade of fraudulent Medicare billing practices.

Hufford was brought aboard in December, after David Baker - a San Joaquin Valley executive hired as CAO - quit within a week of starting work. In a scathing letter of resignation, Baker said the county was on the brink of financial disaster and could be brought back only if the chief executive was given authority over other department heads and the unwavering support of the Board of Supervisors.

It didn't take long for Hufford to assess the county's situation and reach many of the same conclusions as Baker. Hufford quickly instituted a hiring freeze to bring spending under control and proposed steep cuts to the budgets of individual departments to offset a $12 million shortfall he projected for fiscal 2000.

Barry Hammitt, executive director of Ventura County's largest employee union, said Hufford faced a tough battle from the first day on the job, adding that changing the county's financial course was like ``stopping a supertrain.''

``If nothing else, he's caused the county Board of Supervisors to come together around the budget issues and agree on where they are going,'' Hammitt said.

In fact, Hufford has won the unqualified support of supervisors, who voted unanimously in June to give him unprecedented control over the county's operations. With his newly acquired power, Hufford appeared headed for a showdown with department managers over the county budget. But with additional state revenue scraped together and minor concessions made by department officials, the budget was approved with only a few squabbles.

Hufford said he now plans to meet with each department manager to work out a spending plan for them to follow throughout the fiscal year.

``(I want to) instill more effective budgetary discipline and accountability,'' said Hufford, who earns a base salary of $117,250 a year.

According to Supervisor Kathy Long, Hufford will be requiring all department heads to file financial, affirmative action and performance reports with him on a regular basis.

``He's exercising the new authority, and I certainly back every effort he's making,'' she said.

The next part of his plan is also a long-range approach. He plans to develop a budgetary forecast to help administrators as they negotiate raises with employee unions and lobby politicians for money.

Lastly, Hufford will start this month recruiting a chief financial officer, a new position the Board of Supervisors approved in June when it also expanded the CAO's authority.

When the CFO is in place, Hufford will begin the search for his own replacement. He said he will present a list of candidates to the board in January, three months before his planned retirement.

But those aren't the only items on Hufford's agenda for the rest of his tenure.

He also wants to re-evaluate the inflation rates set in county Ordinance 4088, which dictates how much revenue local public safety agencies receive. The ordinance dovetails with Proposition 172, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1995 to fund police and other public safety agencies.

During budget hearings last month, Hufford told supervisors the county is allocating too much money to the Sheriff's, District Attorney's, Public Defender's and Probation departments.

And a recent grand jury report also blasted Ordinance 4088, and suggested that supervisors consider repealing parts of it.

``That's a work in progress,'' Hufford said of his work on the ordinance. `'It's uncertain how and when that will be presented to the board. It's a very sensitive issue, and it may require negotiation. It probably can't be done as a fait accompli.''

In fact, District Attorney Michael Bradbury has vowed to fight any effort to modify or repeal Ordinance 4088, which brings in $40 million annually for public safety agencies.

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Photo: Ventura County interim CAO Harry Hufford's had his hands full in his seven months on the job.

Lexey Swall/Special to the Daily News