Candidate for
Clerk-Recorder-Assessor; County of Santa Barbara

Ken Petit appointed Larry G. Herrera Assistant Santa Barbara County Clerk-Recorder in 1988 after a statewide recruitment. In 1993, Mr. Pettit appointed Larry to the position of Assistant Clerk-Recorder-Assessor and Registrar of Voters. Larry received his Bachelor's degree from California State University, Los Angeles. While at CSULA, Larry learned the true meaning of teamwork as a starting Goal Keeper for the Men's Championship Varsity Soccer Team. With a dedication to public and community service he earned his Masters Degree in Public Administration from California State University Fullerton.

Mr. Herrera has committed himself to excellence in public service since 1972 when he began work as a Recreation Supervisor with the Los Angeles Unified School District. In 1973 he co-founded the Los Angeles Unified School District Summer Soccer Program involving more than 1,000 elementary school children in Los Angeles. Given the tremendous success of this program, Larry became the first year round director of Girls Sports Leagues for 72 elementary schools in 1974.

In 1974, Larry worked as an Administrative Intern for Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, under the direction of current Alhambra City Mayor Dan Arguello. It was during this time that Larry formed his desire to work specifically in local government - the government closest to the people.

In 1978, Larry conceptualized and founded the first annual "Loyola Law School-High School Law Day" which was intended to educate 200 low-income youth about careers in the legal profession. In addressing the students attending Law Day, former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso applauded Larry's vision and dedication to work for the whole community with an aim on improving conditions for everyone.

In 1979, Larry worked for the American Red Cross. In this position he proposed and founded a first aid training program for 600 elementary school children

In 1980, Larry began his local government career with the City of Commerce. After one year of successful project execution, he was offered the full-time position of Administrative Analyst. Projects he successfully executed include: conduct of City Council Elections, establishment of job description and performance evaluation systems for City employees, preparation of model civil service rules, and staff support for budget development.

In 1981, Larry became a Management Analyst for the City of Santa Barbara. During his tenure with the City of Santa Barbara, Larry was assigned a number duties, which included staff support to the Community Relations Committee, the Human Service Program Fund Committee, the Ordinance and Finance Committees of the City Council, and Cable Television Advisory Committee. In 1995, Larry served as the City's Affirmative Action officer, where he drafted several of the City's first anti-discrimination policies. Also, in 1995, Mr. Thomas recognized Larry as "Employee of the Month." Larry recalls that "...it was at the City of Santa Barbara were I learned the true meaning of excellence and team work in public service. Without the support of Council Members and my colleagues I might not be where I am today."

In 1993, the Board of Supervisors merged the office of Assessor with the County Clerk-Recorder and appointed Ken Pettit to manage the combined offices. Almost immediately, Ken approached Larry and asked him to join him to make the merger work with one aim in mind - serve the public at a higher level of service and at a lower cost. By virtue of this teamwork, Ken and Larry have saved taxpayers more than $1.8 million through efficient management and streamlining of Department functions. Mr. Pettit has continually praised Larry for his vision in improving the departments standing in the areas of voter registration and voting technology improvements, Recorder and Assessor internet services, support of non-profit organizations and development of programs designed to increase the public's ownership of County Government. Pettit has said "Larry has lead all our efforts to provide fairness, equity, accuracy, access, and understanding of the recording, property tax, and elections systems in Santa Barbara County."

As Mr. Pettit's appointee, Larry has assisted him in assembling a talented staff whose responsibility is to coordinate the production of 120 men and women located in three cities.

Over the past years, Larry is especially proud of the following achievements:

1. Broadening of career advancement opportunities for department employees through the creation and advocacy of appropriate job classifications such as Judicial Assistants, Legal Document Specialists, Appraisers, Computer Systems Programmers, and Assessment Supervisors affecting hundreds of past and current County Employees.

2. A new county elections tabulation system placed Santa Barbara County as #7 in the timely reporting of state-wide elections returns for the November 2000 Presidential Election. This new system provided an enhanced assurance in the security of voter results.

3. An e-government web site ( www.sb-democracy.com ) providing taxpayer access to a wide variety of important Recorder, Assessor, and Elections processes and data. More than 17,000 user sessions with an online session average of 30 minutes attest to its popularity and utility.

4. A state-of-the-art Assessor's Property Tax System that has lead to more timely and accurate assessments countywide. It also created the ability to track workflow and staff productivity making the department and each employee accountable for every piece of work.

5. A countywide Geographic Information System, supporting such projects as: emergency preparedness planning, city incorporations, and redistricting. Special Districts and Cities of Santa Barbara County as well as other County departments have benefited from this system and the data that is freely shared with all government agencies. This free-exchange of data between local government agencies, spearheaded by Larry, has saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars.

Community activities are also important to Larry. He has coached high school basketball and AYSO soccer. He is a Board Member for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and Building Bridges, a Community Coalition.