POLITICS : Jails vs. Helicopters: How Should County Use Its Available Dollars?

Elected officials in Orange County have come to the defense of Sheriff Brad Gates, who last week was found guilty of criminal contempt for failing to heed a 1978 federal court order to relieve overcrowding at the County Jail.

Some officeholders even said that U.S. District Judge William P. Gray’s criminal contempt ruling and $50,000 fine on the county probably enhanced Gates’ standing in the community.

“Being found in contempt of court and being fined by a federal judge for making it tough on prisoners is not bad politics within the County of Orange,” Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove) said.

But lost in the immediate reactions to Judge Gray’s ruling, some county officials fear, is a crucial debate over county government’s priorities, and ultimately those of the electorate.

Some wonder, for example, whether the county is keeping too many people in jail. Why, they ask, does Orange County rank near the top statewide in the percentage of inmates jailed and awaiting trial for misdemeanors compared to felonies?

State and county officials acknowledge that the reason has to do with the county’s long-standing reluctance politically to adopt some of the alternatives to jail that are used elsewhere.

Priorities Questioned

“If you try to put alcoholics in a treatment facility instead of jail, a howl of protest goes up from anyone who might live near the treatment facility,” observes Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas F. Riley.

Also, some officials question Gates’ priorities. They ask, for example, whether it was more important last year for Gates to successfully seek $1.6 million from the Board of Supervisors to establish a helicopter patrol than to construct emergency temporary shelter for jail inmates, as Judge Gray had wanted.

“I’d be less than honest if I didn’t say that I haven’t thought about that myself at least several times recently,” said Riley. “But in the case of the helicopters, well, a lot of constituents and friends of the sheriff wanted it, and they were successful. I’m not going to engage in Monday morning quarterbacking on the sheriff from where this supervisor sits.”

Coincidental to the federal court ruling last week, a Superior Court judge ordered the county to reduce by 30% the number of infants at the Albert Sitton home for abandoned and abused children as overcrowding soared to an all-time high.

Fifth Wealthiest County in U.S.

Other reports tell a similar story. Juvenile Court and Juvenile Hall need refurbishing; the county is short $90 million for expansion of severely cramped John Wayne Airport, and officials still don’t know how they will fund a new maximum security jail now on the drawing boards.

What’s more, these things are occurring in the fifth wealthiest county in the United States, based on per capita income, and they involve what is reputedly one of the best-managed counties financially.

Faced with Proposition 13 and its 57% reduction in county revenue in 1978, county supervisors imposed a hiring and spending freeze. They embarked on a largely successful program to raise user fees and adopted a pay-as-you-go financing strategy. They’ve studied the concept of turning over some county functions to private enterprise only to discover that in many instances such action would violate state laws.

Moreover, the supervisors shifted federal revenue sharing dollars away from social service programs to brick and mortar needs, such as storm drains and road repairs. Private funds have been aggressively sought for some community projects. For example, Orangewood, a new children’s home, is being financed mostly with private donations.

But these actions haven’t been enough.

“The County of Orange is having increasing difficulty constructing, operating and maintaining facilities for transportation, public safety, health and social services, water supply and sewage disposal, education, recreation and cultural activities and solid waste management,” states a June, 1984, county report about the financial dilemma posed by this trend. “Such services are essential to a thriving and growing economy--the source of the taxes that support these facilities.”

In short, overcrowded jails, children’s shelters and airports are symptomatic of local government’s increasing inability to finance all the services and facilities that public officials and business leaders claim are needed.

“That is the bottom-line issue,” says Patti Gorcyzyca , senior staff analyst in the county administrative office.

“There just isn’t enough money for what needs to be done,” added Riley.

According to a November, 1984, county government study, supported by the business community, the county will need $16.4 billion worth of public facilities, including operating costs, in the next 15 years. The estimates include water and sewage projects, parks, county buildings, highways, transit, flood control and schools.

But the same study shows that, at best, local government revenues will fall short by a staggering $6.4 billion.

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, a Democrat, says the state Legislature will not make up the difference.

President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, says the federal government won’t do it either.

Economists and county officials agree that even if elected officials such as Gates could make spending decisions without error, based on an absolutely flawless system of priorities, there would not be enough money.

Meeting Corporate Heads

In an effort to cope, county officials have been meeting with corporate executives to study proposals for a so-called county infrastructure bank, which would collect, hold and invest revenues earmarked for public facilities. They’re also studying other ideas, such as challenge grants, whereby the county would match funds raised by communities for facilities they seek.

State Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) says that this is why the public will see a large number of bills come out of the state Legislature during the next two years dealing with “infrastructure financing.” Such bills will try to help local governments raise money by pooling bonds and raising taxes possibly by a majority instead of a two-thirds vote of the electorate.

But even those innovations won’t be enough, according to Seymour and others.

Orange County is not alone. A study commissioned by Gov. George Deukmejian recently forecast a $52-billion deficit in public facilities financing by state and local governments in the next 10 years despite such revenue-boosting trends as a whopping 559% hike in fees charged to developers by various levels of bureaucracy between 1975 and 1983.

Money Not Always Solution

None of this excuses a sheriff’s decision to buy helicopters instead of temporary housing for jail inmates, according to such officials as Riley and Robinson.

But officials, including Riley, quickly add that the public shares responsibility.

“It’s not always a problem that money can solve,” Riley explained. “Sometimes it’s finding out where you can put something without causing a revolt. In Orange County, I think, we have a public that demands the most in services and facilities but doesn’t want any of it put near them.”

Moreover, public opinion surveys suggest that a significant number of voters believe government already has enough money and can afford to take care of public needs by simply adjusting priorities.

“It’s not helped any when some public officials go around telling voters that the public is right and that money is available elsewhere,” says Riley.

“The public buys that line because that’s what it wants to hear.”

This, coupled with Orange County voters’ anti-tax fervor, virtually guarantees defeat for countywide bond issues and proposed sales tax increases, according to some professional campaign managers.

County budget analysts note that law enforcement officials influence spending priorities the most when county resources are the most lean. The public would rather see scarce tax revenues spent on law and order items such as helicopters instead of emergency inmate housing.