Spitzer Quits O.C. Board Early

Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, whose brash style shocked and shook up the often stodgy board he joined in 1997, staged his exit from county government Tuesday with signature panache.

He quit.

Spitzer was planning to leave anyway by Dec. 2, when he’ll be sworn in as the county’s newest Assembly member.

Still, waiting until the end of a 3 1/2-hour meeting with only a handful of onlookers, Spitzer dropped one final fast one: He said he was too busy preparing for his new job to give proper attention to his old one. So he turned over his office to board Chairwoman Cynthia P. Coad.

“We hate to have you leave any earlier than you have to,” Coad said with apparent surprise.

The early exit, in fact, could have a personal impact on Coad: It will probably disqualify her husband, Tom Coad, from running in a special election in January to fill Spitzer’s seat. Tom Coad didn’t register to vote in time at a new address in Spitzer’s district, elections officials said.

The move was classic Spitzer, a vocal fighter for just causes in the eyes of some, a shameless self-promoter in the eyes of others.

He’d sparred with every one of his colleagues, demanding more than asking, constantly confronting staff as he transformed his bully pulpit into a billy club. At the same time, his overt political ambition reshaped a county body seen more as a route to retirement than a springboard to greater glory.

Other supervisors were quick to acknowledge that their younger colleague had rubbed off on them.

“You kept things very, very lively,” deadpanned Supervisor Chuck Smith, who along with Coad sparred with Spitzer for six years over a proposed airport planned for the former El Toro Marine base. Spitzer opposed the airport, a view ultimately shared by voters.

“I personally don’t remember any disagreements,” Smith continued.

“Chuck, I have some holes in my door that you kicked,” interrupted Supervisor Jim Silva, who at one point was so sure that Spitzer had leaked sensitive information from closed-door meetings that he tried to have the behavior declared a crime.

Spitzer reveled in the attention: fidgeting in his overstuffed chair, his square jaw grinding overtime.

Earlier in the meeting, he’d mugged with Coad, their sometime squabbles forgotten amid her accolades for a departing colleague. He stood behind her, first pretending to choke her and then flashing a V-sign above her head as cameras broadcast the exchange.

“I know people have mixed emotions about me,” he said. When the audience erupted in guffaws, he turned and grinned. “What? Is that an understatement?”

Government watchdog Shirley Grindle of Orange, a constituent who has known every board member for the last 33 years, said Spitzer was one of a handful of supervisors who emerged as true leaders.

“I’m very sorry to see him leave,” she said, even while condemning his recent vote to allow a housing development in Trabuco Canyon. “I don’t see any other person on the board willing to ask the tough questions and raise uncomfortable issues.”

Among the projects Spitzer finished Tuesday was the board’s unanimous approval to spend $4.5 million to buy more than 500 acres of the Barham Ranch, a swath of rugged hills in Orange adjacent to Santiago Oaks Regional Park. He worked on the project for five years to provide more open space for the park-starved area.

Spitzer said he remembered the advice he heard when joining the board in 1997, intent on restoring accountability in a government disgraced by its historic bankruptcy three years earlier.

“They said you can do anything if you can count to three,” he said, referring to the three votes needed to approve board items. “I thought I could do anything by counting to one for the longest time.”

But Spitzer won the day on a number of big issues. He was once the lone board critic of then-County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier, whom he considered autocratic. But eventually, the rest of the board concluded it was time for her to go. He led the charge against the board majority on El Toro.

Spitzer’s outspoken nature didn’t sit well with some, who nicknamed him “Ready, Fire, Aim.”

There were those who weren’t sorry to see Spitzer go, including Tom Coad, who’d declared a month ago that he intended to run in the special election for the 3rd District seat. Other announced candidates are 71st District Assemblyman Bill Campbell, whom Spitzer is replacing in Sacramento, and Orange Councilman Michael Alvarez.

Spitzer’s abrupt departure moves up the election from Feb. 4 to Jan. 28. Under state law, to qualify for that election, candidates would have had to be registered as residents of the district by Nov. 16.

Tom Coad said Tuesday that he put his new registration in the mail Sunday. It hadn’t been received by elections officials as of late Tuesday. He said he has asked County Counsel Ben de Mayo for a ruling on whether he still can run.

He declined to say whether he thought Spitzer chose to leave early to thwart the campaign hopes of his former airport nemesis.

“I can’t blame anybody without knowing for sure,” Tom Coad said.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Todd Spitzer

Born: Nov. 26, 1960

Hometown: Whittier

Residence: Orange

Family: Wife, Jamie; son, Justin

Elected: to 71st Assembly District this year

Education: Bachelor’s degree, 1982, UCLA; master’s degree in public policy, 1989, University of California at Berkeley; law degree, 1989, Hastings College of Law

Background: California state Senate fellow, 1982; English teacher, Roosevelt High School, Los Angeles, 1984-85; Los Angeles Police Department reserve officer, 1990-present; deputy district attorney, 1990-96; Brea Olinda school board trustee, 1992-96; elected to Orange County Board of Supervisors 1996; reelected in 2000; OCTA board chairman

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Researched by Times staff writer Jean O. Pasco