Ventura County Freezes Hiring

Ventura County government’s top administrator has ordered a freeze on hiring, saying he had no choice after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released a budget plan that would lop at least $17 million from local revenues.

County Executive Officer Johnny Johnston told department heads to immediately freeze any vacant positions to help the county save money and prevent layoffs.

“We will not be doing more with less. It will be less with less,” Johnston told managers in a memo circulated last week.

The county employs 8,500 workers to provide a variety of services, from law enforcement to health care for the area’s needy.

Johnston told managers that overtime and contract help would also be monitored and possibly trimmed.

People who have already been offered employment will be permitted to take the job only after signing a written acknowledgment that they might be laid off, the county executive said.

The loss of $17 million in property taxes, as proposed by Schwarzenegger to help the state close its own deficit, equals all of the projected growth in revenue for the coming fiscal year, Johnston said. It also doubles the projected budget imbalance to $34 million.

Exception to the freeze would be made only for critical assignment in law enforcement and health, he said.