KAPLAN TAPPED TO HEAD PANEL; EX-HEALTH CHIEF MAY OVERSEE TOBACCO FUNDS.

Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer

Stephen Kaplan, who resigned under fire as head of the county's Behavioral Health Department, is the top candidate to organize a new commission that will dole out millions of dollars in tobacco tax revenue.

An Aug. 30 memo gave then-CAO Lin Koester a heads-up that Kaplan, an architect of the failed merger between his department and the Public Social Services Agency, is among three finalists for a contract with the Children and Families First Commission.

Kaplan is an ally of Supervisors Susan Lacey and Kathy Long, who were early supporters of the merger - a political and financial debacle that has cost county taxpayers millions of dollars and spawned state and federal investigations.

Lacey also sits on a seven-member state commission, chaired by actor-director Rob Reiner, that oversees the distribution of revenue generated from the 50-cent-a-pack tax on cigarettes.

Long chairs the county commission that will decide how to spend the $10 million to $12 million a year in revenue the county expects to receive. Barbara Fitzgerald, director of the Human Services Agency, also sits on the panel.

Long said Kaplan is favored to win the six-month contract of advising the county commission on such start-up issues as whether it should hire an executive director and how to create focus groups.

``Steve has the background in developing these types of programs,'' Long said Wednesday. ``He has the expertise and his proposal included a team of five people who are experts in statistics, early childhood development and how to run town hall meetings and create focus groups.''

Long refused to say how much Kaplan would receive if he wins the contract.

The two other finalists are Third-Party Associates of Oakland and Garcia and Simon Partnership of San Francisco. They were culled from six original applicants.

The county commission is scheduled to vote Oct. 1.

Kaplan, a 49-year-old Ventura resident, did not return telephone calls.

Long said she doesn't expect Kaplan's admittedly rocky history with the county to be a problem.

``The commission discussed his background and it's always a concern with public perception,'' Long said. ``But he resigned from that position and if he is hired he will be acting as a private-sector consultant.

``(The commission) is a completely independent entity. There is no question as to his skills and expertise,'' she said.

Long and Lacey, who could not be reached, were advocates of Kaplan's plan to merge Behavioral Health with the Public Social Services to create a single agency to serve the needs of the county's mentally ill, homeless and needy children and families.

On April 7, 1998, the two supervisors, along with colleague John Flynn, voted for the merger. Supervisors Frank Schillo and Judy Mikels were opposed.

By December, however, the federal government had determined that the merger violated its guidelines for paying Medicare claims and it threatened to withhold millions of dollars in reimbursements.

Rather than lose that revenue, the board voted 4-1, with Lacey dissenting, to dissolve the merger and return the departments to their original form.

Kaplan was placed on a 30-day leave at the end of January, and resigned on March 1.

Questions raised during the Medicare inquiry spawned several state and federal audits. Last month, the county agreed to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office alleging fraudulent filing of Medicare claims.

An FBI inquiry into possible criminal wrongdoing is ongoing.

Sen. Cathie Wright, R-Simi Valley, a Kaplan supporter, said she believes that Kaplan's tenure with the county should be considered an asset in deciding whether to award him the contract.

``He knows the county,'' Wright said. ``He knows the children's programs and the mental health issues. He has worked with the county, he knows the county and he lives here. I think he's a superb choice.''

But Mikels - while admitting the decision is not hers to make - said she would have reservations.

``He certainly wouldn't be my choice,'' she said. ``However, I do not sit on that commission. It is their decision.''