Fox Canyon GMA approves executive officer position, sets $200,000–$260,000 salary range

The Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency Board of Directors voted Jan. 22, 2025, to approve a draft job description, compensation range and recruitment plan for a permanent agency executive officer, the role currently held on an interim basis.

The board approved language that defines the post as an at‑will, exempt position outside the county civil service system with a proposed salary range of $200,000 to $260,000 and flexible merit increases. The board also authorized moving forward with a request for qualifications and with hiring a professional executive recruiting firm to prescreen candidates, then narrow finalists for board interviews.

Agency interim executive officer Arne told the board the personnel and classification work was prepared with County Human Resources and that the range was revised after local comparisons and a county compensation study. “We revised the salary range to be from $200,000 to almost $260,000, which I think is more in line for what you will need to recruit the ideal candidate,” Arne said in the presentation.

Directors thanked staff for recent recruiting and onboarding. Director Long said the board had added and promoted staff in the last year and praised the new hires’ qualifications. “I would like to just thank Arne for all the work that he's doing,” Long said.

Some board members raised governance questions about the county’s role in creating and paying the position. Several directors urged that the recruitment and any subsequent structural changes proceed in parallel with a separate review — previously launched by the board — of alternatives for staffing and financial arrangements so the agency’s future relationship with Ventura County is clarified before a permanent governance change is baked in. The board heard that Hallmark Group has completed an organizational scope and that a separate cost analysis of alternatives remains to be completed.

Mattis Cabedo of the County Executive Office human resources division told the board that a contract for the new executive officer is an option worth considering and that HR would assist if the board opts for a term contract. “Similarly situated roles at the county have a contract. I think it's in the best interest of your board to consider that approach,” Cabedo said.

The board discussed stakeholder participation in the selection panel and asked members to solicit potential panelists. The recruitment plan anticipates selecting a recruiting firm, having that firm prescreen candidates, then using a stakeholder/technical panel to conduct initial interviews that would narrow the pool for final board interviews.

The motion to approve the draft duties, qualifications and compensation range carried by voice vote. The board did not record a detailed roll call in the transcript for this item; the chair announced the motion carried.

The agency will return to the board with RFQ language for the recruiting firm and with a process for assembling stakeholder interview panels. County HR and board staff will draft any contract language for board consideration if the board elects that route.

The board’s action advances a separately running review of the agency’s financial and structural relationship with the county, which staff said will continue in parallel and return to the board with cost estimates and options.