Countywide : Mittermeier Named Interim County CEO

Nearly a month after she took over the county’s top job, Janice Mittermeier was officially appointed interim chief executive officer this week by the Board of Supervisors.

Mittermeier will keep the position under an open-ended contract until a permanent chief executive is selected.

In approving her appointment Tuesday, supervisors praised Mittermeier for her performance in running the county and helping to craft a bankruptcy recovery plan.

Mittermeier succeeds William J. Popejoy, a retired savings and loan executive who resigned in July after repeatedly clashing with supervisors over issues related to the county bankruptcy.

Popejoy was the architect of Measure R, the half-cent sales tax proposal that voters overwhelmingly rejected in June.

Supervisors appointed Popejoy in February, hoping that his extensive business background would help the county out of the financial crisis that led to December’s bankruptcy filing.

Supervisor Jim Silva said Tuesday that the board would have been better off appointing Mittermeier instead of Popejoy.

“We talked to her in February about coming in,” Silva said. “Quite possibly, had she been here, I think we’d be miles ahead of where we are today.”

Mittermeier will earn $140,000 a year as chief executive officer. Until this month, she served as chief administrator of John Wayne Airport.