How Much Power to County CEO?

I cannot understand why Jerry Hicks said it would be a sad day if Jan Mittermeier is forced to resign as county chief executive officer (Sept. 19).

No one is asking her to resign. Under consideration is some reduction of the CEO’s authority. The “force” comes from Supervisor William G. Steiner’s statement that “she might step down rather than give up some of her power.”

Even though Steiner says “there is a lot of interest in [Mittermeier] in the private sector,” she collects a $160,024 annual salary after a recent 14% pay raise and might be hard-pressed to equal that figure elsewhere.

Also, since the high salary makes her among the best-compensated municipal leaders in the country (higher than the mayors of Los Angeles or San Francisco and nearly as much as the mayor of New York), Orange County is in a very good position to hire a highly qualified replacement.

Intimations that she might leave if her authority does not remain intact smacks of recent and past arrogance. In this recent salary matter, the board rejected her requested “golden parachute” of 18 months of severance pay if fired. That’s almost a quarter of a million dollars, a lot of money for a county just out of bankruptcy.

In supporting cargo flights at El Toro, Mittermeier, the former John Wayne Airport director, said the county loses $4.9 billion each year because it doesn’t have a proper cargo airport, but she offers no supporting financial studies.

Supervisors need to take back the reins of government. During the bankruptcy, the board amended a county ordinance to give “full authority of the board” to this chief executive officer, who is not elected.

This present arrangement insulates supervisors from accountability and responsibility. The time has come for the board to reduce the CEO’s power and take back its rightful place in the power structure in this county in order to renew the public’s confidence in its supervisors.

CHARLES D. HASTINGS

Lake Forest

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Hicks follows his usual pattern of extolling people in the establishment, but his defense of CEO Jan Mittermeier reaches new heights.

Disregarding the negative reaction of thousands of taxpayers to a government that is not representative, he expands on the virtues of an uncontrolled executive officer.

Why do people dislike and distrust her? Secrecy is one major reason. Only those on her side of an issue are entitled to information. This includes the people we elect to represent us at the county level.

We have not forgotten that county supervisors had to file a lawsuit to force her to reveal public county business. These are negative activities carried out in the name of the taxpayers of the county and, of course, at our expense. Somehow she sees this knowledge as her property--not ours.

While Hicks evidently believes in centralized control of a government that is not elected, most Americans disagree. We want our elected officials to be responsible and accountable. They can never be answerable to us so long as they do not have the proper responsibility and information.

JAMES E. FOX

Laguna Hills

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Mussolini made the trains run on time. Hitler had Krupp munitions running day and night. Jerry Hicks tells us that Orange County is also running like a clock.

Unfortunately, like Italy and Germany before World War II, neither the people nor their elected officials have any say in how Orange County is run.

If Hicks is so keen on living in a county that is run like a business, let him go live in General Motors. I for one still believe in the Constitution and the laws of our land. These documents do not enable kings or queens.

Hicks also characterizes Supervisor Todd Spitzer as a loose cannon. Well, if holding the Board of Supervisors’ feet to the fire so that we may have representative government is being a loose canon, I say praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

GLENN C. DAVIS

Laguna Beach

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It is now almost four years since I left office as the county supervisor for the 2nd District after serving my constituents for 16 years.

I am appalled at the possibility, if not probability, that the majority of the county board will reverse their policy of having a county executive officer (CEO) with the responsibilities of managing the administration of the county, including executive administration of department managers.

I guess things and people never change, just names and places when the vision of “power” comes into view. In the last five years that I was in office, I had tried to get two more votes from my colleagues to establish the office of a CEO from a CAO, county administrator, with the responsibility and the authority to carry out the administration of the county!

I had been fed up with the political machinations of county officials maneuvering for self-serving gain. My colleagues at that time loved playing administrator when they should have been serving mainly as policymaker with time for their constituents. It took the collapse of the county with a bankruptcy to have them see the purpose of that issue.

We don’t need five administrators represented by the five supervisors. That situation only contributed to the dysfunction of county government with department heads doing end runs around the CAO to find three votes, a majority, to get what they wanted. That dysfunctional approach was a contributor to the bankruptcy.

I implore the present board to put aside personal egos of power for the bigger picture of having a well-managed county administration devoid of political game-playing and maintain the office of CEO with the responsibilities and authority that comes with the office of a CEO.

HARRIETT M. WIEDER

Huntington Beach