After a five-month search, current Orange County Administrative Officer Thomas Mauk was appointed Monday by the Board of Supervisors as the new Los Angeles County chief administrative officer.

Mauk, 63, of Whittier, will take over as chief administrative officer on March 12, succeeding the widely respected David Janssen, who announced his retirement last summer. Several other candidates being considered turned down the post, including Sandra Vargas, the administrator for Hennepin County, Minn., which includes Minneapolis.

Mauk inherits a county that has vastly improved its financial condition since teetering on the edge of bankruptcy in the mid-1990s. However, there is still a looming shortfall of several hundred million dollars in the health budget and fallout from years of mismanagement at King-Drew Medical Center.

Mauk became Orange County’s executive officer in 2004. Prior to that, he served as city manager for La Habra, Whittier and Norco.