Hire Anxiety: Board in a Bind on El Toro Job

Just about any decision involving the controversial proposal to turn the former El Toro Marine base into a commercial airport ends up in a battle.

But hiring an interim director for a few months just to oversee the process?

The Board of Supervisors is having difficulty hiring O.B. Schooley as the acting director of a new El Toro airport planning office, apparently because of his salary request, which some supervisors consider exorbitant.

Chairman Chuck Smith said supervisors have voted 3 to 2 in favor of hiring Schooley, a former John Wayne Airport director. He would not name the dissenters but acknowledged that the sticking point is his compensation, which Schooley is tying to his current income as a successful aviation consultant.

“I won’t tell you how much he’s asking because that wouldn’t be fair to Schooley, but I thought it was pretty low for a consulting job,” Smith said.

Smith wants a unanimous 5-0 vote as a show of solidarity among supervisors. But on any airport issue, the vote has traditionally been a bitter struggle ending on a 3-2 split with anti-airport Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Tom Wilson in the minority.

It’s conceivable that if the board can’t reach agreement with Schooley by July 14, his proposed start date, the county will have neither an interim director nor a county executive officer. CEO Jan Mittermeier, who has been under fire for her handling of El Toro-related matters, has said she is considering leaving her county job if an adequate severance package can be arranged.

When supervisors created the new El Toro office, Mittermeier warned that stripping El Toro planning from her control violated her contract and would effectively terminate her.

Supervisors have been unwilling to fire Mittermeier outright, which would qualify her for $170,000 in severance pay.

They said they want Mittermeier to continue as chief executive for all other county duties--a situation that apparently is untenable to Schooley, who clashed with Mittermeier before leaving the county in 1998 after two decades of employment.

Mittermeier’s attorney, Wylie A. Aitken, on Friday said he and the county had talked but reported little or no progress.

Smith said he did not envision any problem hiring an interim CEO or interim El Toro manager, even if negotiations with Schooley are not successful.

Schooley, head of his own aviation consulting firm, SI Partners in Santa Ana, didn’t return calls Friday seeking comment.