County Fire Chief Offers to Take Salary Cut

The Ventura County Fire Department fire chief on Tuesday told the supervisors in a budget workshop that he and other department managers would be willing to reduce their own salaries to help offset losses in state funding next year.

“Every time we go to the community meetings people say, ‘Why don’t you all take a pay cut,’ ” said Fire Chief George Lund, who earned $105,651 in 1991 in pay and benefits. “We would be glad to take our share.”

Supervisor John K. Flynn, who has been urging salary reductions for county employees, praised Lund for offering to take a cut.

“I really appreciate that type of cooperation,” Flynn said.

Lund also told the supervisors that he could be forced to close up to 18 of the department’s 31 fire stations and lay off 280 of its 462 employees under a worst-case scenario of $20 million lost in state funding cuts.

“Obviously, morale in the district is the worst we’ve ever experienced,” Lund said. “People are hurting.”

He said he will ask the supervisors next week to approve a plan to scale back the department in anticipation of the state reductions.

Meanwhile, the supervisors are expected to receive budget information from the Sheriff’s Department and library officials at a workshop today.

Also on Tuesday, county deputies were put on alert at the board meeting after an anonymous man called in a death threat against Supervisor Maggie Kildee.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Bruce Norris said Kildee’s aide took the call from the man about 10:30 a.m.

Norris said the caller did not say why, when or how he planned to harm Kildee.

“He was on just enough to say, ‘I’m going to kill Maggie’ and that was it,” Norris said. “It just sounds like he wanted to make his threat and get off the phone.”