Supervisor Says He Won’t Accept Perks : Government: Three of John K. Flynn’s colleagues state he should have waited until a panel finishes reviewing compensation.

In the wake of the controversy over hefty perks received by Ventura County’s top officials, Supervisor John K. Flynn said Monday that he will no longer accept $12,000 a year in financial benefits.

“I had to satisfy myself that I was doing the right thing,” Flynn said.

The supervisor’s announcement, however, prompted criticism from other board members who said Flynn should have waited until an independent citizens panel finished its study on the salaries and benefits of the county’s elected officials, chief administrative officer and department heads.

County Auditor-Controller Norman R. Hawkes questioned whether Flynn could decline to accept the perks. According to the county’s compensation ordinance, the officials are required to receive the financial benefits, Hawkes said.

“We have a compensation package that dictates what shall be paid,” said Hawkes, who is in charge of the county’s payroll system. “I will have to talk to staff and the county counsel about it. . . . My first impression, based on experience, is (Flynn) cannot do that.”

Hawkes suggested that Flynn could receive the benefits and then donate them to charity, an option that Supervisors Vicky Howard and Susan K. Lacey said they have taken.

But Flynn said he wants the perks--which the board implemented several years ago instead of a pay increase--removed from his paycheck as soon as possible.

“The taxpayers did not want us to raise our salaries so we could give some to charity,” he said.

In a letter to Hawkes, Flynn requested that his education, longevity and vacation benefits be eliminated--reducing his total compensation to about $73,000 a year. Under the pay and benefit package as now configured, Flynn could receive $85,000 a year.

Last year, Flynn received a total compensation package of $91,490, but the supervisors have since cut their vacation pay by more than half.

Flynn said he made his decision to cut his own benefits after discussing the matter over the weekend with his wife.

“The economic times are different than what they were when these were adopted,” he said. “When you take all that into consideration, I’m doing the right thing. I just want to clear this up. This is how I want to do it.”

Ventura County Taxpayers Assn. Executive Director H. Jere Robings said he was pleased with Flynn’s decision.

“It’s a start,” Robings said. “I would imagine John has received a number of hostile phone calls. This is one way to defuse that hostility.”

But Supervisors Maria VanderKolk, Lacey and Howard said Flynn should have let the citizens committee review the matter first.

“I think we have established a panel and we need to wait and hear what they have to say,” VanderKolk said. “We need to do it in an organized fashion. This is not the best way of responding to this.”

Lacey added: “We need to work through the process. I do think the committee is going to work with diligence. We will be able to resolve it and we will be able to create a package that is good.”

Last Tuesday, the board voted 4 to 1 to set up a committee of at least five prominent residents to study and review the salaries and benefits and then recommend a new compensation system.

The decision came a week after the county disclosed that top elected officials and the chief administrative officer received more than $270,000 in vacation, longevity and education benefits and thousands of dollars more in financial perks on top of their regular salaries.

Flynn was the only supervisor to vote against appointing a citizens panel, saying the board should tackle the benefits issue itself instead of turning the matter over to an outside group.

The panel is expected to include Ventura County Taxpayers Assn. President Lindsay Nielson, Los Robles Medical Center Administrator Robert Quist, Bank of A. Levy President Marshall Milligan, Ventura County National Bank President Bradley Wetherell, Ventura County Economic Development Assn. President Stacy Roscoe, retired Superior Court Judge Jerome Berenson, Ventura County Bar Assn. President Roger Myers, and the personnel director from either GTE California Corp. or Amgen in Newbury Park.

The supervisors are expected to finalize the list of panel members today.