Officials Say Tollway Director Could Lose Post--or Part of It

Unhappy with the way three Orange County tollway projects are being managed, tollway board members said Monday that Executive Director John Meyer may be removed from his job or asked to share it with someone else.

Four board members said Monday that a move was afoot to replace Meyer or redefine his job because of the increased workload and Meyer’s handling of it. The four spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Meyer, 57, who came from Florida 2 1/2 years ago to head the San Joaquin Hills and Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agencies, said Monday he was unaware that a personnel committee had scheduled a meeting at 7:30 a.m. Thursday to discuss his performance. But he said he also had scheduled a closed session Thursday to discuss his agencies’ personnel and management problems. He declined to elaborate.

“They should always be evaluating my performance,” Meyer said of the board members.

A state official who also requested anonymity said he was familiar with the issue and that he had heard that Meyer’s job is “history, at least in its present form. He may be transferred laterally or become a full-time consultant, but I’ve been told he will not emerge from Thursday’s board meeting intact.”

Tangled Over Legal Bills

Meyer has tangled with some board members over a variety of issues, such as the agencies’ legal bills, which have totaled more than $1.5 million in the three years that the agencies have been in existence. Meyer said Monday he will recommend that another law firm be hired to handle the agencies’ contract work, which he expects will cost about $60,000 per year.

But board members also have expressed disappointment in recent months with the slow pace and increasing costs of the design work on the three tollway projects, about difficulty in obtaining information from Meyer, and about his management style generally.

Despite such criticism, and Meyer’s admission that he feels overworked, board members approved an 11.8% pay hike for him last March, to $95,000 a year. He had received his last raise two years ago.

Board members critical of Meyer, including Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, said they voted for the salary increase only because it was a cost-of-living adjustment and not a merit raise.

A subcommittee was formed at the time to determine how Meyer’s job performance should be measured in the future. That report has not been completed, board members said Monday.

The four board members who said Meyer’s post may change said they would deny having any knowledge of such moves if they were reported now.

“Some of our own board members haven’t been told what’s going on, or even that there’s going to be a closed personnel session,” one board member said. “And I’m not going to jeopardize what I want to see happen by talking about it in public.”

Board members denied that they were trying to float a trial balloon.

Other board members said they heard about a possible bid to strip Meyer of some of his authority but said they had not been invited to participate in Thursday morning’s personnel discussion before the regular board meeting.

“I’m making calls now to see what’s going on,” one member said.

Another added: “I know exactly what’s happening, but I won’t tell you or anyone else from the press. There’ll be plenty to talk about after Thursday’s meeting.”

The two boards have a total of more than a dozen members.