O.C. Airport Chief Quits, Citing Stress of Job, Illness : Transition: George Rebella has been criticized for expansion problems. His aide is a candidate for top job.

Beleaguered Airport Manager George Rebella, widely criticized for delays and cost overruns in the recently completed John Wayne Airport expansion, resigned Friday, claiming stress and illness are forcing him to leave, officials said.

County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who has played the lead role on the board in airport issues, said he received Rebella’s resignation letter just after noon on Friday.

“I only glanced at it,” Riley said. “He was asking either to resign or retire due to stress and illness.”

Rebella was unavailable for comment.

His resignation came at the end of the week that should have marked the greatest triumph in his 5-year tenure as airport manager. The airport’s gleaming new $63-million terminal opened to great fanfare Sunday, ushering in a new era of operations at the facility.

The task of managing that era, however, will fall to someone else. Rebella’s resignation is effective next week, and county supervisors said they intend to meet in closed session Tuesday to discuss a replacement. Assistant Airport Manager Jan Mittermeier, Rebella’s second-in-command, is thought to be the top contender for the job.

If Mittermeier were appointed, it would make her the first woman ever to head the 67-year-old airport. The post pays $86,736 a year and involves overseeing a $54.5-million budget and a staff of 71 people, soon to grow to 91.

Rebella, 45, had previously said he was looking for another job, and the uproar surrounding the airport in recent months badly frayed relations between him and his superiors. When county department heads came up for raises this year, only Rebella was passed over, a move that supervisors denied was meant to punish him but which again raised questions about his support on the board.

Earlier this year, with the county under fire for delays in the construction, supervisors appointed Assistant County Manager Murry Cable to be their liaison in the $310-million project. By then, it was five months late and the new terminal was millions of dollars over budget. That move, too, was widely seen as a vote of no-confidence in the airport manager.

County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider was said to be deeply dissatisfied with Rebella’s performance and had lobbied hard for Cable’s appointment as airport liaison.

Still, Rebella gave few hints in recent months that he felt under fire.

“That may ultimately be the case, that they might make me the fall guy,” Rebella said in a July interview with The Times. “But I don’t think there’s any kind of effort to do that, just like I don’t think there’s any kind of an effort--if I stay on--to get me out of here. . . . I don’t feel like I’m under any kind of pressure.”

Indeed, supervisors reached late Friday denied that Rebella had been forced out.

“This was his decision,” Supervisor Roger R. Stanton said. “I wish him well, and have nothing but good wishes for him.”

Rebella, a native of Argentina, began working for Orange County more than 20 years ago as a probation officer and later took a post as Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder’s top aide.

He reportedly informed airport staff members of his decision to resign in a memorandum distributed Friday morning. The memo said only that he was resigning effective Tuesday and would be on medical leave until Jan. 17, according to the airport staff.

Because Rebella had previously indicated that he might pursue work elsewhere once the airport construction project was completed, some officials said that they were ready for his announcement.

“It was not surprising,” Wieder said. “He had said earlier that he would leave after the (new airport terminal) was opened.”

The Board of Supervisors is expected to move quickly to replace Rebella and will vote Tuesday to appoint a successor, either as an interim move or a permanent one, officials said. County department heads are responsible for administering payrolls and other funds, and their positions are not allowed to sit vacant.

As the supervisors consider a replacement for Rebella, Mittermeier already appears to enjoy strong support.

“I would not only support Jan Mittermeier, I would nominate her for the job,” Wieder said. “She will break new ground in that job.”

Stanton, a management-training instructor, agreed. “I gave Jan Mittermeier an A-plus in a management-training course,” he said, “and she’s still an A-plus as far as I’m concerned.”