Ventura County welcomes new CEO
By Sylvie Belmond  belmond@theacorn.com

The county Board of Supervisors recently selected Marty Robinson to replace CEO Johnny Johnston.

Robinson, 57, will be the first woman to serve in the top administrative position for Ventura County.

"She will provide the steady hand in leadership the county needs," said Johnston, who will retire at the end of March after seven years at the helm.

A longtime Ventura resident and county employee, Robinson was one of seven internal candidates who applied for the job.

"The supervisors did an outstanding job looking within to seek local talent," said Johnston, who will work with Robinson to ensure a smooth transition.

Robinson attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and graduated from UC Santa Barbara. While working for the county, she received her master's in public administration. She's been the assistant county CEO for the past two years and headed the county's Resource Management Agency before that.

"I'm passionate about public service and about life. I think there are great things we can do here," Robinson said.

In her 30-plus years of public service, Robinson developed skills and knowledge through various leadership roles, supervisors said during a meeting last month. She's been responsible for budgets ranging from $20 million to $200 million. She has experience in intergovernmental relations, labor relations, public and private partnerships, policy analysis, personnel development, grant management and disaster recovery.

"She has great in-depth knowledge of how the county works," said Supervisor Peter Foy.

"Marty's passion, loyalty and breadth of experience spoke volumes for lots of good work that has been done, and she has the skills to take the county to the next level, providing good services for the benefit of taxpayers," said Supervisor Kathy Long.

"My goals as CEO are to maintain the fiscal integrity of the county," said Robinson.

The county must continue to live within its means, and leaders must have an open dialogue with the public, she said. She also wants to expand opportunities for people to access county records.

Ventura County, which has a $1.6-billion annual budget and about 7,800 employees, is facing predicted state budget shortages in 2008 that could amount to $14 billion. Certain programs that have been funded by the state will be impacted, according to Robinson.

Cuts have already been made to an outreach program for Healthy Families, a states-ponsored health insurance plan offered to children of moderate- and low-income families.

The state also reduced funding for programs that provide alternatives to incarceration for individuals who have substance abuse problems and bridging services for mentally ill homeless people who are leaving jail, said Robinson.

Local officials may continue to finance these programs for the short term, but without state reimbursement and support, these services may eventually be eliminated, the new CEO said.