Sheriff-elect Bill Ayub rounds out executive team with agency vets

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect provided salary information.

Ventura County Sheriff-elect Bill Ayub selected two agency veterans for executive positions, filling out his executive team, the agency announced Wednesday.

Monica McGrath, who retired from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office in 2016, was named undersheriff, while Cmdr. Chris Dunn was appointed an assistant sheriff for the county’s largest law enforcement agency.

Previous coverage:

• Candidate Bill Ayub heads for election as Ventura County sheriff
• Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean will not seek re-election in 2018

McGrath will succeed retiring Undersheriff Gary Pentis as the first woman in the agency’s second-highest-ranking position. Dunn will fill the assistant sheriff position vacated by Ayub himself.

The pair will join Assistant Sheriff Eric Dowd, who has held his position for two years, on the sheriff’s executive team. 

Ayub and his top executives will oversee about 700 sworn officers and 500 civilian employees, according to the agency website. The agency provides police services in Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark and Ojai and Thousand Oaks as well as unincorporated areas of Ventura County. The agency also oversees the county’s jail system.

Ayub will succeed Sheriff Geoff Dean, who plans to retire in November. Dean was elected to the post in 2010 and announced in January that he would not be seeking re-election.

Ayub is the only candidate for sheriff to appear on the ballot. The incoming sheriff said selecting his executive staff was an important step for his administration.

“I don’t want to be surrounded by people who all think alike,” Ayub said. “I want people who are not shy about expressing their opinions.”

Ayub also said that his staff still needed to form a consensus when necessary. These people all display those qualities, he said.

McGrath was chosen for her extensive work in community engagement and Dunn for his experience in nearly every facet of the sheriff’s office, Ayub said.

McGrath, who agreed to return to the agency to fill the undersheriff position, is a 29-year veteran of the agency.

Prior to her retirement, she served as a property crimes, sexual assault and internal affairs investigator and obtained the rank of commander, serving as chief of police in the sheriff’s contract cities of Fillmore and Camarillo.

“I still have a fire in my belly for law enforcement,” McGrath said Wednesday about her decision to leave retirement and re-enter the agency.

“I had a great career, but I can go back to work at this time,” she said.

McGrath said community outreach would be a major tenet of her tenure.

“Community engagement is huge ... especially with the domestic violence issues we have,” she said.

Regarding his appointment, Dunn said he was excited and eager to get started.

MORE:Locals in bail bond business react to law that ends cash bail, their jobs

Dunn, a 34-year law enforcement veteran, beginning with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 1988 and transferring to Ventura County in 1994. According to the sheriff’s office, he has worked in every division in the agency and has served as the police chief for Ojai and Camarillo.

“He is experienced in every aspect of our organization,” Ayub said.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Dunn said. “I get to help mold the agency and where we go in the future.”

The incoming assistant sheriff said he is willing to provide candid input for the benefit of the agency.

“One thing (Ayub) knows about me is when he asks for my opinion, I’m going to give it,” he said. “A whole bunch of yes men isn’t going to do you any good.”

According to sheriff's spokesman Capt. Garo Kuredjian, the salary range for an assistant sheriff is between $156,288.77 and $218,741.72. The salary range for undersheriff is between $175,281.68 and $245,394.35.