Irvine Co.’s Hunt Quits as of Today in Surprise Move

Gary H. Hunt, who for 20 years has been one of Orange County’s most visible and influential corporate executives, announced suddenly Wednesday that he is leaving the Irvine Co., effective today.

As executive vice president and in many people’s eyes the right-hand man to Chairman Donald L. Bren, Hunt oversaw the Irvine Co. staff responsible for government relations, environmental affairs and community relations.

Hunt, 52, was the company’s public face at myriad government and community functions, and was in charge of the developer’s prolific political contributions. He played a key role in the campaigns of former Gov. Pete Wilson and Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, and in 1995, Hunt chaired a committee of business executives that helped shepherd the county out of its historic bankruptcy.

Both Hunt and Bren said Wednesday that Hunt was leaving on good terms. Neither described it as an abrupt move. But Hunt’s departure is the third for key Irvine Co. executives in recent weeks in the aftermath of a comprehensive management shuffle.

The Irvine Co. announced Hunt’s departure in a release late Wednesday after outside inquiries, and word of the change sent shockwaves through local business, government and political circles, where Hunt has become an institution representing the public and private interests of the county’s largest developer.

“I’m surprised,” said Larry Agran, who as Irvine’s current mayor and former city councilman has had a long association with Hunt. “I know that I personally will miss working with Gary.”

Hunt said in an interview late Wednesday that it was time to move on from the company after more than two decades and after 25 years of association with Bren. Hunt, who lives in Corona del Mar, said he wanted to spend more time with his two sons, ages 16 and 17, before they head off to college.

Hunt said he did not know what he will do next. He will remain a senior consultant to the Irvine Co. through June.

Bren, in a memo to company officials Wednesday, thanked “one of my closest advisors” for his contributions to the company, which was bought in 1977 by a group including Bren, who six years later acquired a controlling stake in the firm.

“Gary and I have been discussing his desire to expand beyond the Irvine Co. for some time now,” Bren said. “Our friendship and my respect for him will always remain.”

The company did not name a replacement for Hunt, and Bren did not elaborate on the timing of Hunt’s departure or whether it was connected to other recent departures.

In January, Rick Evans, who was president of the retail division, resigned to become a consultant, and Bob Williams, president of the company’s Industrial Group, also left the company.

The spate of changes included the creation of a new operations management committee comprised of Bren, his chief financial officer, Michael McKee, and Richard Sim, longtime head of the company’s investment property group.

Hunt said many of his local government relations duties will be assumed by former Santa Ana Mayor Dan Young, who joined the company two years ago and has been responsible for completing approvals for the company’s residential projects in east Orange. But it appeared unlikely that Young would assume the kind of profile that Hunt had.

As the company’s chief lobbyist, negotiator, diplomat and political strategist, Hunt’s role has been separate and complementary to the operational executives, noted Raymond Watson, an Irvine Co. chairman in the pre-Bren days, who remains a board member and vice chairman of the company.

Watson acknowledged that the departure “was a little bit of a surprise,” though he said Hunt had suggested he might leave several times during the past few years. He said Hunt still will be involved in key strategy decisions in his remaining months at the company.

“He’s been very important” to the company, Watson said. “Now he’s not going to be saddled down with all the details you have running a company--the daily details. He’s going to focus on the big picture--what he’s best at. There’s nobody replacing him.”

Hunt, a bespectacled, avuncular man, had a reputation for operating in the public in a low-key manner, but was considered quite forceful in private dealings. In recent years, he drew fire from some activists in Irvine for the company’s refusal to take a position on whether a new commercial airport should be built at the closed El Toro Marine base. The company has insisted, through Hunt and others, that it will wait until the county completes its planning and environmental review before taking a position.

Over the years, Hunt has held numerous appointed positions in state and federal government. In 1980, he was deputy director of the Republican National Convention. In 1996, then Gov. Pete Wilson appointed him to the Constitution Revision Committee. And in 1998, Hunt took a nine-month leave of absence to work on Lungren’s failed campaign for governor.

Hunt remains a member of the Orange County Business Roundtable and sits on the governor’s infrastructure committee.

In a phone interview Wednesday, Hunt described his leaving as “all good news.”

“I’m leaving the company in a great position and I’m excited about my opportunities,” Hunt said.

“A lot of people will be curious about this,” he added. “I decided it would be a good time for me to look at other opportunities in my life. I’m open to all types of opportunities.”