Hufford to Review Law Firm’s Hiring

County chief administrator Harry Hufford said on Friday he will review the circumstances under which the district attorney’s office hired a law firm that is now suing the county in another matter.

“It’s an unusual situation,” Hufford said.

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury hired attorney Steven Merksamer to respond to a recent Ventura County Grand Jury report questioning the legality of a local ordinance that sends millions of dollars in sales tax revenue each year exclusively to the budgets of county public safety departments, including Bradbury’s office.

Merksamer is representing Community Memorial Hospital in its lawsuit against the county Board of Supervisors. Community Memorial wants private hospitals to seize control of $260 million in money from a national tobacco settlement that is earmarked for the county. The issue will be presented to voters in November.

Hufford said he would look into how the law firm was hired.

“I have to assume the district attorney has to do things in an appropriate manner,” Hufford said. “I just want to go through it step by step and see what procedures were followed.”

He described the matter--paying a law firm to work for the county when the county is simultaneously fighting the firm on another front--as “something of a challenge.”