The contractors who pave roads, build storm-control drains and do other work for the county of Ventura are urging the county to hire a public works director, and soon, after seven months without a permanent name at the top of the agency.

Ron Coons, the last public works director, officially retired in March, but he actually left the job in December because he ended his tenure by using the vacation time he'd accrued.

Since then, the directors of the various departments that make up the Public Works Agency have been rotating as agency director. The Public Works Agency includes the county's roads, watershed protection, waste management, engineering and surveying, and water and sanitation departments.

Last month, the tri-county chapter of the Association of General Contractors of California said in a letter to the county Board of Supervisors that local contractors are "disturbed by the extreme length of time it's taking the county to fill the director of public works position."

Contractors need to have a consistent set of bidding requirements and other procedures, which only a strong public works director can provide, Association of General Contractors District Manager Tony Morelli wrote.

If the public works departments operate separately, doing business with the county would be "considerably more confusing, time consuming and costly," he wrote.

County Supervisor Linda Parks said she hasn't seen any "glitches" since the county began rotating among temporary public works directors.

"It has been helpful to have some of the department directors take over and get an opportunity to try out the position," she said. "In a way, it's given us some input on how they might be as public works director."

County Executive Officer Marty Robinson said Monday she's taking the vacancy as an opportunity to re-examine the structure of the Public Works Agency. Perhaps there's a better way to manage those departments or a different way to group them together, she said.

"We think we've had the current structure for about 30 or 40 years," she said. "Every 40 years, if you want to take a closer look at the structure of the agency, that's all right by me."

Robinson said she will bring the Board of Supervisors a report within the next month on its options for restructuring.

Parks said she'd like to retain the position of public works director but would be open to changing the job's responsibilities.

The board has already moved some of the public works director's responsibilities to other people, by naming Transportation Director Butch Britt as the county road commissioner. Coons had previously held the title.

The county's contractors are strongly opposed to any such restructuring, and would like the new director to follow the course that Coons set, according to the ACG's letter by Morelli.

The county has also gone months without an agricultural commissioner, but in that case, the Board of Supervisors is conducting extensive interviews, including seven last month.

The Public Works Agency's various departments have about 400 employees and budgets totalling more than $100 million. The director would be paid $130,000 to $183,000 a year, according to the county's current salary classifications.