Audra Strickland Assemblymember Audra Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) announced this week she’ll run for the post of Ventura County Treasurer-Tax Collector in 2010.

The treasurer is responsible for the collection of taxes that fund county government. The annual salary is $150,445.

Strickland was first elected to the Assembly in 2004 to represent the 37th District, which covers nearly half of Ventura County, including the cities of Camarillo, Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. She succeeded her husband, Tony Strickland, who is now a state senator.

Audra Strickland, who won reelection bids in 2006 and 2008, will be termed out of the Legislature next year. Before being elected to state office, she was a political aide and a private-school teacher.

Strickland said her experience in the Assembly prepared her well for the job of county treasurer-taxcollector.

“I brought several legislations to increase transparency and make state government more efficient. I have a record of serving the public and protecting taxpayer dollars and taxpayers. That experience is critical to the job,” Strickland said.

The county treasurer’s office is nonpartisan. The position is currently held by Lawrence Matheney, whose second term will expire in 2010. Matheney won’t seek a third term, and he plans to support Strickland’s candidacy.

“I am very comfortable in endorsing Audra for the position,” Matheney said in an e-mail.

Although Strickland doesn’t have a background in accounting or finance, she’s a capable candidate because she’s a quick learner, Matheney said.

“She’s bright enough to learn the technical parts of the job, and she has a track record of demonstrated service to the public,” he said. Her inquisitiveness and ability to ask tough questions, he said, would serve her well.

But at least one county supervisor doesn’t agree.

“Taxpayers should demand that the treasurer-tax collector has some qualifications and experience, not just in broader policy platform of state budgets but also in academic and hands-on financial matters,” County Supervisor Kathy Long said.

Long, who represents the Camarillo area, is advocating for the county to establish professional and educational criteria for treasurer candidates. The county treasurer, she said, should have academic training in finance before handling taxpayer funds.

Statewide, qualifications for the treasurer-tax collector post were not established until the mid’90s. The Legislature instituted optional qualifications after the 1994 bankruptcy of Orange County, which resulted from risky and reckless investments by then-Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert Citron.

Many counties—Ventura County not among them—have since required candidates to have served in a senior financial management position with a public agency, to have a degree in accounting or finance, or be certified in public accounting.

Long said she’ll introduce an ordinance in December asking the Board of Supervisors to adopt the government code that establishes qualifications for treasurer candidates. She wants the ordinance to be implemented before the filing period for the 2010 elections begins on Feb. 15.

Long said her proposal isn’t linked to Audra Strickland’s candidacy. She opted to revisit the prequalification matter after Matheney announced he would not seek reelection.

“We have an open seat, so we have an obligation and responsibility to pass government code that will lay out what the qualifications will be,” Long said.

If Long’s motion is adopted, Strickland would be ineligible to run for treasurer.

Strickland said the proposal “smacks of political motivation,” noting that prerequisites in accounting and finance don’t guarantee that a person will manage money wisely.

“Those are the same qualifications that caused banks to fail. People who do that for a living are likelier to make risky investments,” Strickland said. She’s already proven herself a responsible fiscal leader, she said.

Furthermore, the Ventura County treasurer-tax collector doesn’t work in a vacuum, Strickland said. The elected representative works closely with the assessor, the clerk recorder and the Board of Supervisors to make decisions for constituents. Every member of the team is accountable to others, she said.

Supervisor Peter Foy, who represents Moorpark and Simi Valley, endorses Strickland. He said he’s not opposed to the idea of prequalifying candidates for county treasurer in the future, but such adjustments shouldn’t be considered for the 2010 election.

“The timing is suspicious. It can’t be done now because it would be too political,” Foy said.

Brian Leshon, first vice chair of the Ventura County Democratic Party, doesn’t agree. He said the county needs to pass a prequalification requirement now.

“While it may look political, it’s a good idea. We need qualified people. The likelihood of catastrophe with someone who doesn’t have experience as a financial manager is too big,” Leshon said.

Leshon said Strickland is a “hyper-partisan political opportunist” who lacks qualifications for the job.

Strickland said she’s already received endorsements from many local city and county officials. Thus far, she’s the only candidate to officially announce an intention to run.