Oftelie’s Growing Power Presents Target for Critics

Transportation chief Stan Oftelie has become Orange County’s reluctant rich uncle, the man with the awesome means to bail local government out of bankruptcy.

For months, behind every county financial recovery scheme has stood someone coveting the bank account of the agency Oftelie runs, the Orange County Transportation Authority, swollen with $800 million in cash and hundreds of millions more in sales tax revenue that will flow to OCTA into the next century.

As guardian of such wealth, Oftelie, 47, a disarmingly modest and congenitally deferential man, has been turned into an unwilling power broker in the Byzantine political effort to revive the broke county.

“He’s an incredibly powerful person in Orange County,” said developer Buck Johns. “His power is inordinate and needs to be looked at.”

For a lifelong county resident with a passion for coaching the youth soccer teams of his four sons, that anyone now would see him as “Stan Oftelie, power broker” is bewildering and not just a little ironic.

Friends and critics alike readily acknowledge his administrative skills and adroit handling of complex issues and egos in a county full of both. But the latter accuse Oftelie of trying to boldly expand his transportation empire by seeking to acquire John Wayne Airport and the future rights to develop a new commercial airport at the El Toro Marine base when it is closed.

“I think his critics are personalizing this to Oftelie, but I think Stan is a real shining star, which also causes a lot of jealousy,” said Supervisor William G. Steiner, who serves as vice chairman of the OCTA.

Oftelie is a registered Democrat in a world of Republicans, a man who endorsed former Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron, who handled the funds of scores of investors in the county’s portfolio, including OCTA’s.

He remained loyal to Citron until disaster struck, circulating a letter just days before the county filed for bankruptcy in December encouraging other investors to “solidly support” the man whose reckless and unchecked financial strategy cost the county $1.7 billion in trading losses.

“Oh, yes, this is the power center of the universe,” Oftelie joked, facetiously dismissing detractors who say that the bankruptcy aftermath has left him and his agency with far more influence, by dint of its wealth, than anyone ever intended.

But more than a few observers believe just that.

“Money is power in politics, and power is very enticing and Stan’s got a lot of power,” said Garden Grove City Councilman Mark Leyes.

Leyes and others view Oftelie as a crafty county insider who deftly exploited the political vacuum created by the bankruptcy, which, to a degree, has limited the authority of the Board of Supervisors.

They say he extracted a larger settlement for investors in Citron’s failed pools than the county wanted to make and is holding out for the airport as the price for assisting with the county’s bankruptcy debts.

A one-time newspaper reporter, Oftelie has spent the last 20 years in county government--eight years as chief aide to then-Supervisor Ralph B. Clark, and the rest as executive director of the county transportation commission, and then the OCTA after six transportation agencies were consolidated into the mega-agency in 1991.

“Mr. Oftelie has been convincing wherever he’s worked at building a bigger empire,” said Wayne King, a vocal opponent of spending tax dollars on OCTA’s plan to build a light rail system in Orange County. “He’s a a smooth guy and when [OCTA directors] ask him a question, he’s got a smooth answer. It’s not always the answer I want to hear, but he can certainly think on his feet.”

It’s a handy skill for someone who must please a board composed of four county supervisors, six city council members and one public member chosen by the other directors.

Oftelie’s 1,600-person agency, with a $602-million annual budget, operates more than 500 buses and directs the county’s master transportation plan to construct and expand freeways, streets and rail service. With its sheer size, and the 20-year, $3.1-billion Measure M sales tax approved by voters in 1990, the OCTA and its chief executive wield a lot of clout.

“My problem is that he and the OCTA board are not accountable to anyone,” said Leyes. “The whole transportation authority is horribly unaccountable.”

The very reasons OCTA was formed--to help ensure efficient and coordinated transportation for residential and commercial growth in Orange County--prompt the concern now about the role the man and his agency play in the bankruptcy recovery.

The issue that has made both OCTA and Oftelie the targets of tough scrutiny: the agency’s overtures to buy John Wayne Airport. “It’s the county’s prized asset,” said Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove), who is sponsoring a bill to let voters directly elect the OCTA directors to make it more accountable.

Over the weekend, Pringle pushed the legislation to shift more than $1 billion in taxes used to operate county buses from the OCTA to the county to help pay off bankruptcy debts.

Pringle feels OCTA funds should simply be transferred to the county and that the OCTA should stick to building roads, not running airports. “I think they have enough on their plate in terms of overseeing the bus transportation services and overseeing the road and freeway expansion projects,” said Pringle.

To Oftelie, it’s not that simple. Since April, he has reminded those who have lusted after the OCTA cash that it’s unconstitutional in California for one government agency to simply make a gift of its funds to another government agency.

As the transportation chief, Oftelie said, he has been cast “as someone who is saying, ‘No, don’t do this, don’t take this money,’ and that’s a very undesirable spot, particularly if you want to be in a setting where you can make positive things happen in Orange County.”

That’s how the idea of OCTA buying the airport surfaced, Oftelie said. Someone researched the agencies consolidated into OCTA and discovered that the old Orange County Transit District had the authority to own an airport.

After more study, the idea developed into OCTA buying the airport along with the development rights to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, when it is vacated under the national plan for base closures.

Critics saw the suggestion as a bold gambit by Oftelie to dictate the terms of future county development, especially at sprawling El Toro. Because of its size, the base could be developed into a larger commercial airport, leaving John Wayne as a smaller companion facility for commuter flights and general aviation.

Supervisor Marian Bergeson, for one, said entrusting OCTA with the county’s aviation future raises troubling questions about the agency’s mission and whether it’s becoming a publicly unaccountable “super agency.” She described the airport-for-cash idea as a “power play.”

“Mr. Oftelie has been an excellent manager who’s managed his operation very efficiently and effectively,” Bergeson said. “I think like anything that gets better, getting better means getting greater control and I think we have to decide how far we are going to go.

“The broader issue is what sort of management structure do we want,” she continued. “I feel the need for taking responsibility for air transportation at El Toro is a bit of a power play at this moment,” she said.

Part of Oftelie’s power, Pringle noted, also derives from the fact that the OCTA distributes money. Measure M requires the agency to return 14.6% of the sales taxes revenue it collects to more than 30 cities. Through February, more than $71 million had been passed out for local maintenance of streets and roads in amounts that range from as little as $122,000 to Villa Park to nearly $8 million to Anaheim.

Oftelie’s personality, too, has advanced OCTA’s influence, developer Johns believes. “Obviously, the man has a lot to do with it. Stan has moved that rather obscure entity to the forefront. And the role he played in the bankruptcy was big time.”

Personally and professionally, the public fuss makes Oftelie uncomfortable. It bothers him because he sees himself as an employee hired simply to carry out the policy directives of a board of directors.

In a county of voters highly suspicious of government, Oftelie said he understands why some worry about the perception of OCTA’s spreading influence. But he said he his only ambition is to be a good public servant.

“I spent a whole life working for guys,” he said. “I work for wages. [He’s paid $134,000 a year.] I don’t get a percentage of this. I worked for a county supervisor for eight years where I learned that your job was to understand the guys you work for and to carry out their policies and goals.

“I understand what the policy goals are of the people I work for and I work to carry them out,” he said. “You’re not a power broker if you’re doing that.”

There is one amusing footnote to the airport controversy: Oftelie has a fear of flying. “I’m not a good flier, I don’t like to go to airports, I’m not a guy who goes out flying for fun,” he said.

Despite his background as a reporter for The Times and the Orange County Register, or perhaps because of it, media attention makes Oftelie nervous. “I’m sorry I’m not too helpful,” he said after an hour of carefully answering questions. “I don’t like the idea of your doing a story on me, that’s not helpful,” he said.

Oftelie operates best in small groups behind the scenes. One of his most ardent critics during the negotiations that led to the investor’s pool bankruptcy settlement, San Francisco attorney G. Larry Engel, who represented the non-Orange County cities, came to admire Oftelie’s efforts to seek a fair solution by the end of the process.

“He’s very good at keeping people focused, and at finding your deal point,” said Engel. “He’s a very sharp operator who had a clear perspective of what was good for the OCTA and the majority of the pool participants and probably the most informed person I’ve met in Orange County.”

How OCTA ended up the largest creditor, having invested more than $1 billion with Citron, still concerns some of Oftelie’s critics.

Said Pringle, “It’s just somewhat mind-boggling that he’s the largest discretionary investor, he’s the one who encouraged others to participate and yet he’s the one who distributed the spoils after bankruptcy.”

Leaving so much money with Citron was a mistake, Oftelie said. He said he talked with Citron last September about diversifying but never got around to it. “We trusted them and they were wrong. I should say, I trusted them and I was wrong,” he said.

Friends and close associates dismiss criticism of Oftelie as a natural byproduct of the issues in which he’s involved, of the need to make decisions that affect massive public works projects that will change the contour of the county.

“Stan Oftelie is under siege and it’s unfortunate,” said Supervisor Steiner. He commended Oftelie’s work on the bankruptcy committee and in developing a 100-day post-bankruptcy plan that kept the agency’s road-building projects on track and restored OCTA’s credit rating.

Steiner said he also feels the criticism of the man is misplaced: “The bigger and more powerful an entity becomes, the bigger a target it becomes.”

Government consultant Dan Miller, a former chief aide to Supervisor Roger R. Stanton and longtime friend and colleague of Oftelie’s, said Oftelie is “protective of his rice bowl just like every city manager and county executive is protective of theirs.”

When it comes to working for a larger public goal, Miller said, Oftelie “checks his ego at the door.”

Sara Catz, who has served as the public member of the OCTA board for the past two years and as an alternate member for 19 months before that, speaks of Oftelie with praise that sparkles.

“I think OCTA and the citizens of Orange County are the luckiest people in the world to have a person like Stan,” Catz said. “He’s the best. He’s more than that, he’s five steps ahead of everybody. He’s just incredibly bright and perceptive.”

Although he has spent a career in the company of elected officials, Oftelie has no ambitions to seek office. Politicians have “qualities that I just don’t have and I recognize it. No, there’s no chance in the world I’ll run for public office, zero.”

Whatever the Legislature and the OCTA board decide to do with the agency’s funds, Oftelie said he will work diligently to carry out their directives.

“This is a major public policy issue,” he said. “My role is to frame it and then to tee it up. And then it’s up to them.”

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Transportation Chief

As CEO of the Orange County Transportation Authority, Stan Oftelie oversees a $602-million, 1,600-person agency that, among other things, operates more than 500 buses, builds freeways and improves streets and roads. A profile:

* Age: 47

* Hometown: Pasadena

* Residence: Anaheim Hills

* Salary: $134,000

* Personal: Married, four sons

* Education: Bachelor’s degree in journalism, Arizona State University, 1970; master’s in communications, 1974, and public administration, 1980, USC

* Work history: OCTA chief executive officer, 1991 to present; executive director, Orange County Transportation Commission, 1983-1991; chief aide to then-Supervisor Ralph B. Clark, 1976-1983; reporter, Orange County Register, 1970-early 1975 and fall, 1975-1976; reporter for the Los Angeles Times, 1975; journalism instructor, Golden West College, 1975

* Attitude: “I understand what the policy goals are of the people I work for and I work to carry them out.”

Source: Orange County Transportation Authority