Retirement System CEO to Step Down

Vincent Brown, CEO of the Santa Barbara County Retirement System, is stepping down after two years on the job.

He has accepted a new position, confirmed assistant CEO Lila Deeds, though an announcement hasn’t been made as to where he is headed. Deeds, who has been with the system for the past five years, will be the interim CEO.

Brown, who commuted from Sacramento during his time here, came to the county system after providing internal control consulting services to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). Prior to that, he had been chief deputy director of the state Department of Finance, COO for the state controller, and deputy executive officer at CalPERS.

He took over from Tom Ford, who had been the interim CEO, replacing Oscar Peters, who retired in October 2008 following nearly six years at the helm.

Brown officially leaves later this month.

While the county’s budget discussion gets underway next week, the employee contribution rate to the retirement system is already set for the fiscal year.