Mills Says She Will Quit OCTA

In an announcement that surprised Orange County Transportation Authority board members, Chief Executive Officer Lisa Mills announced Monday that she will resign Sept. 14 to pursue other opportunities.

“I just want to have some change in what I’m doing,” said Mills, 43, who was appointed CEO in May 1997.

The former Santa Ana city council member said she had been thinking about new opportunities after having spent more than two decades working on transportation issues.

Mills rejected the notion that the timing of her announcement intentionally coincided with the county’s current search to replace its CEO, Jan Mittermeier.

“I haven’t looked for another job, and I haven’t decided what to do,” Mills said. “I just decided that I want to do something different.”

Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who is an OCTA board member, said that Mills called him by telephone late Sunday and advised him of her decision.

“I was very shocked,” Spitzer said. “This board has worked very hard on some controversial issues, and Lisa has done a very admirable job. . . . But when Lisa called me, she mentioned that after 21 years in transportation she’s tired of it and wants to pursue something else. I’m very disappointed because she’s very talented.”

Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, who also serves on the transportation agency’s board, also called the announcement “very unexpected.”

“There had been no clues that she was unhappy or had any personal problems,” Daly said. “Transportation is a tough grind. . . . While I don’t like the timing of her decision, I respect her decision.”

Laurann Cook, who as chairwoman of the agency’s board of directors worked closely with Mills over the past year, said Mills met with her over the weekend to discuss the reasons for her decision.

“I think that she was diligent in the process of deciding what she wanted with her professional career,” Cook said. “I know she deliberated long and hard.”

In May, Mills received a good performance review and a 4% salary boost, Cook said. Mills, who was appointed agency chief in May 1997, oversees an agency with 1,400 employees and earns more than $140,000 a year.

She first worked for the county in 1979 as an intern in transportation planning, then left to work for the Orange County Transportation Commission, which later became the transportation authority.

Under Mills, the authority tackled a $1.5-billion light-rail system called the Centerline, which would travel along a 29-mile route proposed between Fullerton and Irvine. The authority still is finalizing the route’s alignment and work on a draft environmental impact report is underway.

Other projects included restructuring discount senior fares and “straight lining,” a program to route buses along primary thoroughfares without detouring on side streets.