The Ventura County Supervisors Don’t Care About Seniors

Mid February 2026, Supervisor Jeff Gorell (District 2, Thousand Oaks) issued a last minute statement for entry into the public record at the upcoming Ventura County Board of Supervisors meeting, formally directing staff to pause the proposed transition of the Area Agency on Aging, withdraw the request to the state, and return with a full analysis of alternative service models and fiscal impacts.

What’s missing is context because none of his frantic efforts would have been necessary if the Ventura County Supervisors and Ventura County CEO, Sevet Johnson, had just done their jobs last year. For six months, they were all asleep at the wheel.

Full statement here: Gorell.BL.VCAAA.pdf

 At the December 16, 2025 supervisors meeting it was abundantly clear that they were not doing the job for which they were elected to do. Had it not been for the efforts of Senior Concerns CEO and President, Andrea Gallagher, hundreds of our neighbors may have lost their jobs this summer, and 250,000 in our community —- our 60+ year olds, would have lost critical services like nutrition support and coordinated medical care. (The link only references 15 county jobs, it does not account for the countless individuals who provide services and care to our senior community in the private sector).

Following Gallagher’s public comments at the December 16th meeting, about 28 minutes in, Gorell substantiates that he has not been paying attention to Roger Robinson, Director of Ventura County Human Services Agency (HSA). Supervisors Long (District 3, Camarillo) and Parvin (District 4, Moorpark) further drive home this point when they ask uninformed questions of Robinson while Supervisors LaVere (District 1, Ventura) and Lopez (District 5, Oxnard) seem unaware of issues as they blankly looked on. Last June Robinson was appointed as Director of HSA which included the Area on Aging (AAA). Robinson came to Ventura County from Solano County, where he was an associate director for less than two years. This is the only known county experience the $280,000 year employee has. Robinson was at the meeting to provide an update on the transition of AAA; locally managed senior services, by June 2026. Robinson made reference to being aware of community concerns while also dismissing them because he had already made the decision to end AAA. Robinson also stated he had been busy during his six months with the county and was ready to begin hosting informational meetings to initiate the transition of locally coordinated senior services to the state, a move that raises serious concerns, given the value of the services to our seniors and the reality that the state could never replicate the accessibility, responsiveness, and community-centered care that the county currently provides.

The Ventura County supervisors are either not doing their jobs or worse, they don’t want to do their jobs. Gallagher knew to show up on the morning of 12/16, and had brought impacted individuals with her. Given Gorell gave Gallagher a community leader award at his made-up award program in 2024, it’s hard to believe Gallagher, who has been an excellent champion for our community, had not attempted to contact Gorell prior to the December meeting to stop the fast moving train wreck.

Sevet Johnson, the County Executive Officer, is responsible for oversight of county staff at the direction of the five-member board of supervisors. Clearly, Johnson was either not paying attention to Robinson or worse, she was not informing the county supervisors of what was occurring inside HSA. Each supervisor is paid a full-time salary of more than $200,000. It is their job to manage Johnson and ensure they receive accurate and transparent information from each department within the county. 

When a department head can move to dismantle essential county services without the Board fully understanding or intervening, that’s not leadership, that’s negligence. Especially when there was no discussion to balance any cost savings with our community needs. Supervisors Gorell and Parvin are up for re-election in June. We strongly recommend that you get to know Gorell’s competitors – Ashley Orozco,  Mark Perryman and Matt Rivkin. Parvin is being challenged by Ruth Luevanos. 

The salary cost of the Ventura County Supervisors and Johnson is more than $1M dollars to taxpayers. Ventura County taxpayers deserve supervisors who are informed, engaged, and actually managing the CEO and department heads they oversee. Spread the word. In June and November, hold them accountable. Vote Gorell and Parvin out.