County supervisors challenge grand jury's negative report
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors has directly challenged the content of a civil grand jury report recently released that alleged the county has neglected to perform adequate internal audits, and that County Executive Officer Johnny Johnston has too much decision-making power.

According to the grand jury report, Johnston recommended sweeping budget cuts a few years ago that left auditor/controller Christine Cohen without enough money and staff to adequately analyze departmental operations.

"The Board of Supervisors ignored repeated requests from Cohen for resources to audit internal control of all county agencies and departments," the report stated.

The report also said that Johnston's budgeting authority is too great over individual departments, and the auditor's office isn't sufficiently involved in decisions affecting county financial and fiscal affairs. In addition, the grand jury investigation indicated that since 2003, the auditor/ controller's own audit division has lost more than half its staff, mostly senior auditors.

Before budget cutbacks the county had six auditors; now there are two.

Funds should be provided to pay for more experienced and adequate auditing staff, the report said.

In light of its concerns, the civil grand jury recommended the establishment of an independent audit committee.

The supervisors fought back, defending the board and chastising the grand jury for misrepresenting the facts.

"The grand jury meant well, and they were looking at something important, but there were some erroneous findings that were upsetting," Johnston said in an interview with the Acorn.

"Fundamentally the grand jury didn't validate the facts and it came up with conclusions that had errors," he said.

Staffing turnover is a problem that must be addressed but it's not due to underfunding, Johnston said. Many older workers are retiring and others are simply moving.

About 85 million people in the country are expected to retire in the near future, Johnston said, and a void will be left because there aren't enough qualified workers to replace them. He said neither he nor the county supervisors impaired the auditor's ability to do her job.

Supervisor Kathy Long said she didn't appreciate the report's wording.

"The report had a lot of inflammatory language that wasn't necessary," Long said at the county board meeting.

"People who volunteer to serve on the grand jury should understand they have an important job to do," Long said. "They can't be biased or have an agenda."

Civil grand jurors are supposed to be factfinders, not interrogators, she continued.

"They must review how government operates and look out for the best interest of the taxpayers, but they shouldn't attack individuals or divisions of government on a personal level," Long said.

Grand jurors should understand all the facts of a matter before making a big issue of it, said Supervisor Peter Foy.

The budgeting shortages that occurred in 2003 affected all departments, but funding reduction didn't impact the auditing process, he said.

"The accusations against Johnston are not justified," Foy said. "He's not in control of the board agenda and county budgeting matters."

Government finances are incredibly complicated and the relationship between agencies is also complex, said Supervisor Linda Parks, board chair.

"So for a grand jury to come on and try to analyze and decide the major source of problems, and grasp all that in a few months is not an easy task," Parks said.

The board will determine whether the independent auditing committee idea the grand jury suggested is a viable option, "but it's not easy to implement," Johnston said. Both Johnston and Parks indicated they plan to respond to the report in detail.

"There was no secrecy. We need to talk openly and work on the real problems- not the imaginary ones," Johnston said, indicating he was not given an opportunity to speak with the grand jury before conclusions were drawn.

"Our report stands on its own," said Dr. Alyce Klussman, grand jury foreman. "Every report that the grand jury turns out is based on confidential testimony and published documents."