COUNTYWIDE : County to Form Economic Panel

Ventura County government should work with area businesses to ensure continued economic health in the area, Ventura County supervisors said.

At the recommendation of Chairwoman Maggie Erickson Kildee, the board voted Tuesday to establish a Council on Economic Vitality, made up of five business representatives from throughout the county.

The council, to be appointed by board members next month, will monitor the county’s financial health and provide a voice for business in supervisors’ decisions on issues that affect the economy.

Erickson Kildee called on the county’s business leaders and executives to search for ways to “jump-start the economy,� and suggested an economic summit this spring in Ojai.

“We need a coordinated, proactive response to view issues before us today and in the future,� Erickson Kildee said.

“And I think that response needs to be in the form of a partnership between business and government.�

Supervisor Vicky Howard said Ventura County should be careful not to make the area inhospitable to business.

“We should be looking very seriously at the restrictions we place on our businesses,� Howard said.

Marshall Milligan, chairman and chief executive officer of the Bank of A. Levy, said the board should be careful that the council does not simply become a lobby for business interests. But he said he supports the formation of a council.

“I’ve long felt that economic vitality or the sense of economic cooperation is largely a matter of attitude,� Milligan said. “This is an excellent signal you are sending.�