Former Auditor Made Her Every Opportunity Count

The turbulent exodus of County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier on Tuesday ends a harrowing era in Orange County government that helped forge her legacy as both financial savior and iron-fisted manager.

Mittermeier’s greatest accomplishment, helping to guide the county out of financial ruin following its historic bankruptcy in 1994, provided her with the financial credibility and political muscle necessary to fend off critics during her half-decade tenure.

That accomplishment was finally undercut, however, by Mittermeier’s stormy relationship with some members of the Board of Supervisors, who for years had accused her of trying to usurp their authority.

Along with objections to her strong support for the proposed El Toro airport, some supervisors felt betrayed by Mittermeier’s secretive management style and tight grip on county operations.

Among the most caustic eruptions during her five years as the top bureaucrat:

* In 1997, Mittermeier touched off a political battle with Supervisor Tom Wilson when she refused to disclose details about the county’s lobbying efforts in Washington in support of an El Toro airport. Wilson, who represents South County, is an ardent opponent of the airport.

* Mittermeier riled the board a year ago when she demoted--and tried to fire--John Sibley, the well-regarded director of the Public Facilities and Resources Department. Even though she had the authority, some supervisors insisted they should have been consulted.

* In March, Mittermeier was criticized for failing to have a contingency plan in place for the approval of Measure F, which voters passed overwhelmingly in March to halt the airport proposed for the closed military base.

Mittermeier has been a lightning rod for controversy since she first took over as the county’s chief executive officer in 1995.

In the wake of the bankruptcy, the board granted her sweeping powers to manage the county’s affairs, including the authority to hire and fire nonelected department heads.

Gone were the days when supervisors enjoyed broader clout, which some believe fostered the lack of internal oversight that led to the county’s Dec. 6, 1994, financial collapse.

After just two years in office, Mittermeier was roundly praised by Wall Street for helping the county recover from bankruptcy only 18 months after it filed for protection from creditors.

Working together with county staff and the supervisors, Mittermeier cut department funding and streamlined the bureaucracy. She established a five-year budget plan to assure Wall Street investors that the county would become fiscally sound.

Governing magazine, a national publication for government leaders, in 1998 named Mittermeier as one of the nation’s top public officials for the year.

In her parting statement released Tuesday, Mittermeier held up that accomplishment highest off all.

“The County of Orange is now recognized throughout the nation as a dynamic organization that has embraced a philosophy based on sound fiscal management and accountability,” she said. “I look back on my career with the County of Orange with great satisfaction.”

Putting the county back on a solid financial foundation, however, did not spare her from the political buzz saw of El Toro.

Wilson and Supervisor Todd Spitzer, both airport opponents, accused her of keeping them in the dark about the airport. And it was a string of setbacks on El Toro, which a slim three-member board majority supported, that finally put her job in peril.

Along with gaffes following the passage of Measure F, Mittermeier was harshly criticized after word leaked that she had applied for a deputy director’s position at Los Angeles International Airport later that month.

Mittermeier said she interviewed for the job at a time when she expected to be fired from her post in Orange County.

LAX would have provided the perfect soft landing for Mittermeier.

She started her career in Orange County as an auditor at John Wayne Airport, eventually working her way to the top as the airport’s director and taking the helm just in time for its massive expansion in the late 1980s. It was her no-nonsense approach and steely resolve at John Wayne that made her the prime candidate for county chief executive officer.