County Names Mittermeier CEO : Government: Board’s unanimous decision to appoint 21-year O.C. employee comes after summer-long search. She dismisses criticism that an insider can’t initiate change.

After a summer-long search for a leader to run Orange County’s bankrupt government, the Board of Supervisors looked within the county’s own ranks Monday and unanimously appointed Airport Director Jan Mittermeier to become the county’s first permanent chief executive officer.

Supervisors said Mittermeier, 55, earned their respect and the job because of the way she has managed the county’s operations since being appointed interim CEO in July. Mittermeier, who will be paid $140,000 a year, will have broad powers to reshape and reform a county government wracked by the worst municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, they said.

The board’s selection, however, was immediately criticized by some who questioned whether a 21-year county employee would be able to usher in an era of change and restructuring in government. Mittermeier dismissed any notion that a county insider can’t initiate reforms.

“A lot of people think we’re bottom-dwelling, scum-sucking bureaucrats, feeding at the public trough. I think they are just going to have to watch what happens,” Mittermeier said to reporters shortly after her appointment.

“The county is severely constrained in the amount of revenues it has now or will have in the future,” she added. “Whether I wanted to do it or not, it’s going to be essential for the county to become smaller and more efficient.”

Mittermeier’s appointment after a two-hour, closed-door board meeting came as no surprise, and ended an oftentimes tumultuous transition from a weak administrative officer at the helm of county operations to a stronger CEO position.

“Jan brings a depth of experience and knowledge to the job,” Board Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez said. “She understands county operations [and] is a well-known and highly regarded consensus builder.”

“She’s the right person at that right time,” added Supervisor William G. Steiner. “I think it would have been difficult to thrust someone new into the middle of this bankruptcy. Jan has a sense of history and she has earned credibility by being part of the solution.”

To a large degree, Mittermeier is credited with spearheading the county’s recent recovery plan, which won state legislative approval last week. She also has been praised for helping renegotiate a settlement agreement between the county and about 200 cities, special districts, schools and other entities that invested in the county’s ill-fated investment pool, which lost nearly $1.7 billion.

Today, Mittermeier will present the final county general fund budget for the board’s approval, completing yet another difficult task. County observers, however, are quick to note that much of the work on the budget, recovery plan and settlement agreement had been set in motion well before Mittermeier took over Aug. 1.

Nonetheless, the board has attributed those accomplishments to her.

“All in all, I think she has the major ingredients we need to guide the county, now that we’ve got the recovery plan,” said Vasquez, who wanted to appoint a new CEO before stepping down from office Wednesday.

But the Committees of Correspondence, an activist group that is calling for reduction in benefits for county workers as a means of lowering taxes, doesn’t buy Mittermeier’s selection.

“I’m very, very disappointed,” said Bill Mello, one of the group’s leaders. “What we will have now is the continuation of cronyism. What they needed was a businessman from the private sector who has gone through downsizing and knows how to control costs. But Jan Mittermeier, she’s part of the problem.”

While news of Mittermeier’s appointment didn’t boost prices of Orange County’s bonds on Wall Street, municipal bond traders hailed her selection as a signal the county was on the road to recovery.

“She seemed to be instrumental in getting the county back on track with the recovery plan, so it seems like a good thing,” said Robert Gore, a municipal bond trader at Crowell, Weedon & Co., an investment banking firm in Los Angeles.

“It’s nice to see them finally getting their act together,” Gore said.

Board members decided shortly after the county’s Dec. 6 bankruptcy declaration that they needed to get rid of the county’s top administrative position and create a stronger post with an executive officer, who would have sweeping powers and authorities over department heads and their budgets.

After the bankruptcy fallout forced former County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider out of office in February, the board appointed millionaire businessman William J. Popejoy to be interim CEO. After a brief honeymoon, the relationship between the board and Popejoy soured. Popejoy quit in disgust in July, complaining that the board wanted a lackey--not a leader--in the position.

“I’m a big fan of Jan,” Popejoy said Monday. “Given the authority, she’ll do a sterling job. The only question is what kind of authority [the board] will give her. I know they’ll give her a lot of responsibility. But what kind of authority will she get?”

At the time that Popejoy was appointed in February, the board announced that it would commission a nationwide search for a permanent replacement for him. But by the time the supervisors awarded a contract to a search firm in early June, they had decided to confine the search to California, hoping to have the job filled by mid-summer.

But the search dragged on as supervisors interviewed four executives they selected for their “short list” of candidates. Supervisors declined to identify those on that list.

“I’m very satisfied that we attracted top talent,” Steiner said of the search.

The job search, which was conducted by a national executive search firm, Heidrick & Struggles, could end up costing the county about $50,000 when the search firm presents its final bill.

On Monday, Vasquez said Mittermeier will “have a wide range and latitude of chief executive officer responsibility, that is going to be stronger, more definitive” than the CAO post.

He said it “will put her in a very, very strong leadership position to administer the business affairs and the operational affairs of this county.”

Furthermore, Vasquez said the board chose Mittermeier because she is not one to coddle the supervisors with unrealistic and rosy reports.

“She is one who is not inclined to tell you what you want to hear, but one to tell you what you need to know,” he said.

Steiner agreed: “The critics will say she is an insider, but I truly believe she sees the big picture and the need to get beyond the status quo. She will be in charge and she shouldn’t be underestimated.”

At John Wayne Airport, Mittermeier was known for her direct but low-key management style, the same type of no-frills, no-nonsense management philosophy that she brought with her when she became the interim CEO.

Mittermeier joined the county in 1974, working in the auditor-controller’s office before joining the airport as assistant director in 1987. Three years later, she was chosen to head the airport. Her annual salary there was $99,000.

The terms of Mittermeier’s appointment were not immediately available. However, one high-ranking county official said that she will be extended a multiyear contract. The board will review her job performance each year, the official said.

Mittermeier apparently has negotiated an agreement with the board to be able to return to running John Wayne Airport if her job as CEO does not work out, added the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The board will publicly approve the terms of the agreement within the next couple of weeks.

Times staff writers Mark Platte and Debora Vrana contributed to this report.

* LOW-KEY APPROACH: CEO is known for crafting compromise outside limelight. A10

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

County Gets a Chief Executive

Orange County supervisors turned to Airport Director Jan Mittermeier to fill the county chief executive officer position. The appointment of the 21-year county bureaucrat is effective immediately.

Age: 55

Residence: Huntington Beach

Education: Bachelor’s degree, accounting, and master’s degree, business administration, both from Cal State Long Beach

New salary: $140,000

Previous position: Director, John Wayne Airport

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“I think it would have been difficult to thrust someone new into the middle of this bankruptcy. Jan has a sense of history and she has earned credibility by being part of the solution.”

--Supervisor William G. Steiner

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“It’s a typical county procedure. They talk about bringing in the best from the outside and then they choose someone internally. Jan will do what the supervisors tell her to do.”

--Vic Opincar, engineering executive and privatization task force member

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“A lot of people think we’re bottom-dwelling, scum-sucking bureaucrats, feeding at the public trough. I think they are just going to have to watch what happens.”

--Jan Mittermeier