Wieder to Oust Planning Board Appointee, Name Businesswoman

Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder said Friday that she is naming a Huntington Beach businesswoman to the Orange County Planning Commission, replacing a political appointee who Wieder said is too resistant to change.

Haydee V. Tillotson, 54, is expected to replace Roger D. Slates on the five-person county panel that has broad authority over land-use questions.

“A new broom sweeps clean,” said Wieder, who is chairman of the Board of Supervisors and has retained Slates as her Planning Commission appointee for the past four years. “We need a fresh approach (to county planning).”

Neither Slates nor Tillotson could be reached for comment Friday.

Wieder and Slates have been at odds publicly in recent months over restructuring of the Planning Commission, shifting half the panel’s workload to a newly created zoning administrator for minor planning decisions.

The move, approved by the Board of Supervisors last December, reflects the dramatic slowdown in local development. County officials seek to use the commission’s time for broader, regional policy issues.

Slates has assailed the plan, saying in an expletive-filled interview in December that he did not understand why the supervisors would want to take away authority from the Planning Commission. Wieder said at that time that she was “shocked” by her appointee’s reaction.

On Friday, Wieder said “that (restructuring) issue reflects Roger’s traditional approach--he doesn’t want change.”

But the supervisor stressed that the disagreement over the commission restructuring was not the cause of Slates’ ouster.

“I could have bounced him a long time ago for worse. . . . He’s been a good planning commissioner,” she said. “I just want another approach.”

Slates “still wanted control” over planning issues, Wieder said. “We need a fresh approach, and I think Haydee will bring it.”

The new appointment should become final Tuesday, with approval expected from the full Board of Supervisors, Wieder said.

The daughter of a pre-Castro Cuban diplomat, Tillotson has been active in many civic and community affairs in the Huntington Beach area, said husband John Tillotson. His wife was out of town.

The couple own and operate a property management company, Tillotson Enterprises, which handles industrial and residential property, he said. Haydee Tillotson has also been involved in interior design.

John Tillotson said his wife has never worked as a government planner before, but as a developer bringing property issues before the city of Huntington Beach, “she’s been through the process from the other end.”

Haydee Tillotson is a personal friend of Wieder’s and has worked in support of her political campaigns, John Tillotson said. Campaign reports show the Tillotsons have contributed $1,055 to Wieder’s electoral runs since 1978.

But the two women have not always stood on the same side of the political aisle.

Wieder was expelled last September as a member of the Huntington Harbor Republicans because she had endorsed the presidential candidacy of Democrat Bill Clinton, in violation of club rules. Tillotson, a member and past president of the club, said at the time that the incident was unfortunate, but that Wieder “certainly has the right to follow her convictions.”