Wilson Taking Flak From All Sides After Sparing Mittermeier

Supervisor Tom Wilson is feeling political heat for casting the swing vote to retain County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier, whom critics see as the driving force behind plans to build an airport at the retired El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

Some longtime Wilson supporters were puzzled about why the vocal Mittermeier critic voted to keep her. Wilson’s vote last week was a reversal of his position in 1998, when an effort to oust Mittermeier came up short.

But it’s not the first time Wilson’s so-called “anti-airport credentials” have been questioned. Since he was appointed to the board in 1996, some airport foes have said South County needed a more vigilant fighter.

“In my mind, I think a golden opportunity was missed” to stop the airport, Irvine Councilman Greg Smith said.

Council members in Irvine--which borders the former base--said they met in closed session last week and expressed “serious concern” about Wilson’s leadership role on the board.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who along with Wilson makes up the board’s minority opposition to an airport at El Toro, was stunned by Wilson’s vote. Spitzer has criticized Wilson in the past for perceived wavering on airport opposition, but declined to comment on the most recent vote.

Moments after the vote, Wilson said he sided with Mittermeier out of confidence in her ability and because she “was key” to the county’s post-bankruptcy recovery.

Later that same day, Wilson issued a press release insisting his vote was a vote against the airport: He said that if Mittermeier were replaced by someone more successful at juggling the planning schedule and its many demands, it could provide renewed momentum for the airport at a critical juncture.

“Firing Jan Mittermeier would have only paved the way for the board majority to create a new El Toro process that would be worse for South County,” Wilson said in the statement.

That explanation drew its share of critics--and supporters.

Voting to keep someone in office because you believe that person incompetent, and therefore less able to complete a task you oppose, is ridiculous, said Mark P. Petracca, a professor of political science at UCI.

“That’s grotesque irresponsibility for an elected public official to say something like that,” Petracca said.

Susan Withrow, chairman of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, a panel made up of eight South County cities opposed to the airport, called Wilson’s statement “doublespeak.”

“He straddled it,” county Treasurer-Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach said of Wilson’s vote. “He said [Mittermeier is] not doing a good job but let’s keep her there because it’s to his advantage. The reaction I’m getting from people . . . is, ‘Why didn’t you finish the job?’ ”

Others said Wilson did the right thing.

“You can’t marshal an army without an enemy--and [Mittermeier] makes a good enemy,” said Meg Waters, spokeswoman for the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority.

Irvine Mayor Christina L. Shea said she spent more than 20 minutes on the phone with Wilson after the vote and urged him to push to remove Mittermeier from her role overseeing El Toro airport planning--something the chief executive has called a “deal breaker” that would force her to quit.

“‘Other than that, I would ask that you go back and rescind your vote,”’ Shea said she told Wilson.