HUNTINGTON BEACH : Ortega Resigns Post on Planning Agency

Geri Ortega, who in more than three years on the Planning Commission established herself as a vocal slow-growth advocate, resigned from the seven-member panel this week.

Ortega, the commission’s chairwoman last year, said she stepped down to take advantage of some “irresistible” travel opportunities that would have conflicted with her planning duties.

Councilwoman Grace Winchell, who nominated Ortega to the commission in 1988, appointed Shirley Detloff as her replacement. Detloff, a founding member of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, was sworn in Wednesday and will join the commission at its next meeting May 7.

Winchell said she favored Detloff because she shares Ortega’s environmental concerns and has an extensive background in government.

As executive director of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, Detloff--an aide to former state assemblyman Dennis Mangers--frequently lobbied state and local officials on environmental policy. She now serves as the organization’s representative on a coalition of government officials, landowners and environmentalists overseeing the development and preservation of the Bolsa Chica wetlands area.

“Shirley is highly organized, highly competent and highly dedicated,” Winchell said. “She’s very broad in her commitment too. It’s not just limited to the wetlands and the environment. She brings a very broad perspective to the commission.”

Ortega’s resignation marks the departure of the commission’s most outspoken environmentalist. An often harsh critic of development, she frequently clashed with builders and city staff officials over policy.

Many developers, who considered Ortega unduly contemptuous, privately said they were relieved when her yearlong tenure as commission chairwoman ended in January.

“I agree with those who have told me I have a hard act to follow,” Detloff said. “Geri is very knowledgeable, and she held very strongly to her positions.”

During the coming months, Ortega said she plans to tour Spain and help her 16-year-old daughter prepare for a visit to the Soviet Union, events that she said prompted her decision to resign.

Ortega, who unsuccessfully ran for the City Council in 1988, said she is also considering another run at a council seat in 1992.