Mandel Signs for 4 More Years at Center

Jerry E. Mandel will continue as president of the Orange County Performing Arts Center until 2005, following the center board’s decision Thursday to give him a four-year contract extension.

In a statement announcing the new contract, board chairman Roger T. Kirwan praised Mandel for “excellent” stewardship over center operations and fund-raising since his appointment four years ago.

Part of the reason for extending Mandel’s original five-year contract now, a year before it expires, is to ensure continuity for the center’s $200-million expansion campaign, Kirwan said. About $80 million in contributions has been announced in the drive to build a new, 2,000-seat concert hall and a 500-seat auditorium expected to open in 2005.

Mandel, 61, said he initiated discussions about a new contract with Kirwan several months ago. “I’m really pleased” with the extension, he said, because he can now concentrate strictly on his job as the expansion drive goes forward instead of having the career uncertainty of being in a contract’s final year.

Mandel will be 65 when his new contract ends, but he doesn’t foresee retiring then. “I’m in very good health, I feel great, I’m here 12 to 15 hours a day, so my energy level is high.”

Mandel was a chief fund-raiser for UC Irvine and Cal State Long Beach before joining the center in July 1997 at an annual salary of $195,385. He declined to release financial terms of his new contract.

“I’m well-compensated, and it’s appropriate to what I do,” said the center president, who oversees a $30-million-a-year operating budget. According to records filed with the Internal Revenue Service and provided by the center, in 1999-2000 Mandel earned $249,320 in salary and $13,240 in expenses. His benefits and deferred compensation package was valued at $92,091.

Mandel is the center’s third president since it opened in 1986. If he serves out his new contract, he will have nine years on the job, giving him a longer tenure than Thomas R. Kendrick, who served from 1985 to 1993.