County advisory committees to come under closer scrutiny
By Sylvie Belmond  belmond@theacorn.com

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted last month to review the operations of all nonmandated citizen advisory committees that serve the county.

The goal is to assess the work of all the county advisory boards and committees to see if some of them can be eliminated or combined to save money, said Supervisor Peter Foy, who proposed the motion.

Not only must county staff prepare agendas, reports and meeting notices for every board meeting, but, Foy said, rental costs may also be involved if the commissions meet at hotels or other facilities not owned by the county.

The call for closer scrutiny isn't meant to eliminate public participation, Foy said.

The citizen groups are made up of volunteers who review materials and provide valuable advice to county department operations.

The county has dozens of commissions and each one has a different purpose, said Mark Lunn, chief of staff for Foy and a planning commissioner in Thousand Oaks.

"I suspect many of them (the commissions) will be considered valuable but maybe some of them could be consolidated so they're more cost-effective," he said.

Lunn is a former member of the alcohol and drug advisory board, which provides advice to the county Behavioral Health Department.

Foy and Lunn have been meeting with county department leaders to evaluate the effectiveness and need for each committee.

Some boards that were needed in the past may no longer be necessary, said Foy, who appoints 22 individuals to such boards and commissions.

Supervisor Linda Parks, who represents the Thousand Oaks and Oak Park areas, agreed.

"It will help us to take a good look and think about making some changes," she said.

Most of the supervisors inherited these committees when they came on, she said.

"Sometimes it's hard to fill the board positions or members don't show up, so it's important to see if those are still functioning as intended and to see if that intent is still necessary," Parks said.

The frequency of the meetings could also be changed to maximize efficiency.

Both Parks and Lunn suggested that the alcohol and drug advisory board could be combined with the mental health board because a majority of people who use drugs or alcohol also have mental health problems.

Parks also suggested that perhaps the number of participants on some of the panels could be decreased.

Eliminating commissions could, however, be counter to the purposes of democracy if it's not done carefully, said Moorpark Councilmember Roseann Mikos, who represents her city on several advisory commissions.

Sometimes a larger board is needed to ensure a quorum, Mikos said. Different people also bring fresh viewpoints that elected officials or county staff may not have thought about, the councilmember said.

"There's nothing wrong with looking into the information about different boards to streamline the process, but public participation is important," Mikos said.

Residents get only a few minutes to speak at regular public meetings, she said, and that's not enough.

County officials thought Mikos' concerns were valid; they said the review is exploratory and no changes are currently planned.