Robert Levin, Ventura County's top public health doctor, won't be kept on

Health Officer Dr. Robert Levin’s 26-year tenure as Ventura County’s top public health doctor — a role that made him a magnet for praise and criticism during the COVID-19 pandemic — will end.

Levin’s one-year $332,000 extension expires on June 30. County leaders declined to renew the contract for another year. On Tuesday, the board of supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance restructuring the job into an in-house county position that answers to the public health director.

Levin worked as a contractor in an agreement regularly approved by the board of supervisors. The change will make the next health officer a county employee.

County leaders have said Levin could apply for the new position along with other candidates. But in a phone interview on Tuesday, Levin contended politics contributed to the decision not to renew his contract and said he would have no chance at keeping the job.

“Why would I apply? I wouldn’t be rehired,” Levin said. He is on vacation and plans to return to complete the final weeks of his contract.

Levin, 75, trained in pediatrics and infectious disease medicine, lives in Ojai and operates a winery with his wife. He said he is one of many public health officers across California who have retired or have been released in the wake of a pandemic that pushed the leaders into an intense public spotlight. He attracted support for his leadership and work ethic, receiving a $32,000 raise a year ago from the board of supervisors.

At the same time, his actions and decisions involving masks, restrictions on businesses and public health orders that shadowed state guidance brought anger from community members who complained at county meetings, vented on social media and wrote threatening missives.

He said his decisions during the pandemic and across his career have been driven by science and health. He contended politics played a role in the county restructuring his job and ending his tenure. He declined to publicly detail his assertions.

“Public health and politics don’t always coincide,” he said. “Public health is not about left and right. It’s about right and wrong.”

The board of supervisor’s makeup changed in the 2022 election with Republicans Jeff Gorell and Janice Parvin joining Kelly Long to create a Republican majority on a five-person board. In a district that runs from the Camarillo region to Thousand Oaks, Gorell said in his campaign a change was needed in public health leadership. He did not respond this week to messages for comment about the changes in the health officer position.

Levin’s name was not discussed Tuesday as supervisors unanimously approved the second reading of an ordinance related to the restructured position.

The current board also awarded Levin a raise a year ago. Supervisor Matt LaVere reiterated Monday the decision to restructure the job was not related to Levin’s performance and was initiated by administrators.

“No one was fired and no one was dismissed,” said LaVere, who praised Levin. “Administrators said it made more sense to have (the health officer) be an actual county employee.”

Barry Zimmerman, retiring director of the Ventura County Health Care Agency, said Levin was one of the few contracted administrators remaining in lead health care roles for the county. He said the changes don’t reflect Levin’s performance, rather show the desire to move such jobs in-house.

“I think we’ve been planning that for awhile now,” he said. “It just creates different dynamics when we have contracted leadership in there.”

Long, chair of the board of supervisors, said the restructured position moves the county more into sync with how other counties employ their health officers.

“I do thank Dr. Levin for his 26 years of service,” she said in a text, citing his work during multiple public health responses and his efforts in the county’s tuberculosis clinic. Parvin and Supervisor Vianey Lopez did not respond to messages before the board meeting.

In early April, as news broke about several county administrators who planned to retire, Levin said in an email he wasn’t ready to leave the position.

On Tuesday, he cited ongoing public health projects that he had hoped to complete, including a One Health project that looks at the links and interactions between people’s health, the environment, water, animals and insects. He also cited the reality of public employment.

“You can’t take the job of the health officer without understanding you serve at the pleasure of the board of supervisors,” he said.

Zimmerman said the search for a new health officer will begin soon. The job will pay in a range of $223,829 to $313,360. The changes don't appear to alter the position's responsibilities. The officer is responsible for enforcing local health orders and state health laws, also serving as consulting medical officer for the board of supervisors and other county agencies.

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Robert Levin won't be extended as Ventura County's top doctor