Folksy but Firm Administrator Helping to Turn Ventura County Around

Six months ago, Harry Hufford reported for his first day as Ventura County’s interim chief administrative officer.

His assignment was to close a $5-million budget gap, bring unruly department heads back in line and restore order to the increasingly fractious Board of Supervisors.

Hufford, 68, who served as Los Angeles County’s chief administrator from 1974 to 1985, quickly went to work, imposing a hiring freeze and refining a plan to put the county’s finances back in order.

He quickly established himself as a likable but shrewd manager, one who earned the respect of his political foes with his straightforward talk and his determination to stay focused.

“He nails the issues and just knocks people back on their heels,” said board Chairwoman Kathy Long.

Hufford achieved results quickly. By summer, he had closed the budget shortfall, put the brakes on back-room deals between individual supervisors and department heads, increased the budgetary and hiring power of the chief administrator and smoothed relations among supervisors.

Some issues remain unresolved, however. A legal battle with Community Memorial Hospital over the county’s $260-million tobacco settlement money remains a potential threat to the county’s future financial stability.

Hufford also appeared last week to relent on a proposal to scale back a guaranteed annual budget increase given to public safety agencies to cover inflationary costs, a move that could save the county millions of dollars. Hufford issued a report suggesting only that he might recommend such action later.

“The debate goes on,” he said last week. “Let’s leave it at that.”

Still, officials give Hufford high marks for his leadership.

“He has a bearing that says ‘I know what I’m doing,’ which has been good not just for the county family but for the broader community,” said Supervisor Susan Lacey.

Predecessor Quit After 4 Days

Hufford began his new job in January. He was hired to fill the position left vacant by David L. Baker, who stunned county officials when he quit a month earlier after only four days on the job.

Baker left a blistering six-page resignation letter warning that the county was on the brink of financial chaos. He said the chief administrator’s role was too weak to control the budget, rein in department heads and institute policy changes.

Baker also advised the board to revamp a local ordinance that funnels as much as $40 million a year in sales tax money to law enforcement. Unless altered, he said, the ordinance would create a dramatic imbalance between funding for public safety and other county programs, such as libraries and health care.

Ventura County supervisors launched a search for a new county manager, one who was up to the challenges outlined by Baker--a firm hand in a crisis.

Hufford wasn’t the first choice for the job. That candidate was Keith Comrie, a former Hufford employee who later became the city of Los Angeles’ administrator.

But Comrie, who was committed to another project at the time, suggested that officials call his mentor and longtime friend. When Hufford’s name came up at a county government conference, Supervisor Long said everyone told her to snatch him for the job.

With his folksy demeanor, bad hearing and rumpled appearance, it would be easy to underestimate Hufford at first glance, some officials and friends acknowledge. But that would be a mistake.

Hufford spent nearly 40 years in Los Angeles County government, including his stint from 1974 to 1985 as chief administrative officer. In 1978, he saw the county through the challenges brought on by Proposition 13, which devastated county treasuries by cutting property taxes.

He returned to the top administrative post as interim manager in 1993 after the ouster of Richard B. Dixon during a financial crisis described as the county’s worst since the Depression. Hufford faced down threats of a strike, slashed library, welfare and health care funding and cut hundreds of jobs.

In addition to his government experience, Hufford spent 15 years in the private sector as head of the Los Angeles law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and as an executive for the investment firm Bear, Stearns & Co.

Ventura County officials were impressed.

Quickly Imposed a Hiring Freeze

Two weeks after his arrival, Hufford imposed a countywide hiring freeze, exempting only law enforcement. But he also proved flexible.

When a citizen complained that a child abuse investigator had refused to look into a case because the hiring freeze had stretched the staff too thin, he took the matter into his own hands.

By going public with the allegations, Hufford compelled Human Services Agency chief Barbara Fitzgerald to investigate. She confirmed three such cases, apologized on behalf of her department and promised to put an end to the practice.

Rather than punish her, Hufford rewarded Fitzgerald for working with him, and agreed to add two child abuse investigators.

In March, Hufford was confronted with a much larger problem. Community Memorial Hospital announced that it would seek a November ballot initiative that would turn over the county’s $260-million tobacco settlement revenue to seven private hospitals.

Michael Bakst, executive director of Community Memorial, argued that the money was intended to go to health care and instead was being earmarked to help resolve the county’s financial problems.

Hufford hunkered down with lawyers and supervisors to develop a strategy. He became the county’s lead negotiator, meeting with Community Memorial and other private hospital representatives to try to find a compromise.

But Community Memorial forged ahead with its plans, gathering enough petition signatures to place its measure on the ballot.

The day before the board was to vote on the matter, Hufford issued a 29-page report denouncing Community Memorial’s initiative as a transparent attempt to shut down the county hospital, long considered a rival.

On Hufford’s advice, supervisors refused to place Community Memorial’s measure on the ballot. They filed a lawsuit against Bakst, author of the initiative, charging that the measure is unconstitutional. Community Memorial has since filed a countersuit.

Meanwhile, Hufford challenged Sheriff Bob

Brooks and Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury to rein in public safety spending. He proposed slashing $3.5 million in the Sheriff’s Department and cutting $666,000 in the district attorney’s office.

His plan drew angry responses from the two powerful politicians. The sheriff threatened layoffs and elimination of gang enforcement programs, while the district attorney warned of fewer prosecutions.

But behind the scenes, Hufford was building a personal rapport with Brooks and Bradbury, meeting with them informally and speaking of his intentions.

Hufford is “the best thing that’s happened to Ventura County since I can remember,” Bradbury said.