Should Base Manager Get Praise as Well as Severance? Board Asks

The collapse of Orange County’s quest to build an airport at El Toro took the flavor of a nasty divorce Tuesday when supervisors met behind closed doors to debate whether to reward the performance of outgoing program manager Gary Simon.

Last month, supervisors eliminated the El Toro office and Simon’s position, effective June 4. Under Simon’s contract, he would be paid a six-month severance plus another month of pay upon termination. But the money evaporates if he resigns--a clause Simon wants amended to allow him to resign and get the extra pay, more than $102,000. Supervisor Todd Spitzer, Simon’s most vocal critic, said Tuesday that Simon appears to have the votes to get his severance when he steps down. But Spitzer said there was dissention over a portion of the board resolution that praises Simon’s job performance. At the end of Tuesday’s tense meeting, supervisors agreed to revisit the issue Monday.

The debate is emblematic of El Toro’s contentious planning history, which began in 1994 when Orange County voters approved zoning for a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine base and ended in March when another vote rezoned the property for other uses.

“Gary knew the rules of the game going in, and he’s trying to change the rules,” said Spitzer, who fought the county’s plans for an El Toro airport and has accused Simon of lying about county expenses for El Toro--a charge Simon has denied.

“It’s indicative of El Toro through the years. Whoever has been in charge has always tried to change the rules to fit their agenda,” Spitzer said.

Board Chairwoman Cynthia P. Coad, an airport supporter, said Simon’s work is something the county can be proud of, despite the combative political environment.

“I want to make sure, now that Gary’s job has disappeared, that when he’s looking for a new job that he gets a good recommendation,” she said. “I’ve been very impressed with him and have been able to work with him very well.”

Simon said he was confident that he and supervisors would be able to come to terms Monday. He has earned $182,000 a year overseeing an agency of 29 employees, most of whom have found jobs elsewhere in county government. Last year, the office’s budget was $11.8 million.

“It certainly has been a privilege and honor to work for the board,” he said.

Simon was hired in January 2001, his second stint at the county. He had headed El Toro’s real-estate team a year earlier, then left to work for an engineering firm hired for an expansion of Los Angeles International Airport.

Simon returned to head an El Toro office that for the first time reported directly to supervisors. The office had been moved in May 2000 from the control of then-County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier, who left the county after arguing that the change breached her contract. She had the same severance provision in her contract as Simon and was terminated.

Spitzer has sparred with Simon, as he had with Mittermeier, over several El Toro matters. The relationship became so tense that Spitzer began tape-recording his meetings with Simon.

In December 2001, Spitzer protested when thousands of county postcards touting the airport were shipped to a post office after a judge ordered county officials to stop using public funds on airport promotions. Simon had told Spitzer there were no mailers pending, according to Spitzer’s tape-recording of the meeting. Later that day, however, Simon and Deputy County Counsel Don Rubin authorized a final mailing.

Spitzer said he has no problem paying Simon but does not want the county to praise his work. “His performance, in my mind, triggered termination for cause,” Spitzer said. “We don’t even owe him his severance because of his lack of performance and lack of veracity. But I’m willing to live by the severance provision.”