Sensitive Issue of Jail Crowding Left Unmentioned : Riley Gives County Supervisors Glowing Year-End Review

Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley ended his one-year term as board chairman Tuesday with a State of the County speech saluting the board’s accomplishments during the past year.

However, he did not mention one of the county’s biggest problems--persistent overcrowding at the County Jail.

“All year, I have been referring to Orange County as a unique Southern California oasis, characterized by a dynamic economy, unparalleled cultural development and a life style second to none,” Riley said. “This description has been richly confirmed by the events of 1985.”

Riley, 73, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general who has been a supervisor for 11 years, said one of the high points of his year as chairman--a largely ceremonial post--was the agreement on expansion of John Wayne Airport, a compromise that ended years of court battles.

He acknowledged that, during the controversy, “. . . at times, my own colleagues have disagreed with me, each having a different vision for the future. At times, I felt defeat.” Yet, he said, the board came up with “a settlement agreement that all parties could accept, and did accept.”

Increase in Daily Flights

Less than a month ago, over Riley’s vociferous objections, the board voted 4 to 1 to authorize an increase in daily flights from an average of 45 during the past year to as many as 95 during the first three months of 1986.

Although the airlines subsequently adopted schedules that would average 78 flights per day until March 31, when the airport’s new operating year begins, Newport Beach officials were upset at the high number.

In his 15-minute speech before handing over the board chairmanship to Supervisor Ralph Clark, Riley also praised the county’s economic growth, but warned that it must be balanced “to protect our life style.

“The vision of the future we have today will become tomorrow,” he said. “Many of today’s demands and tomorrow’s challenges can only be met through cooperation and compromise.”

However, Riley failed to touch on the problem of jail overcrowding in his remarks.

Found in Contempt

Last March, U.S. District Judge William Gray in Los Angeles found all five supervisors and Sheriff Brad Gates in criminal contempt of court for not heeding Gray’s 1978 order to improve conditions in the main men’s jail in Santa Ana.

The judge fined the county $50,000 plus $10 a day for each inmate forced to sleep on the floor for more than one night. Part of the fines went to pay for a special master appointed by Gray to monitor the county’s efforts to improve conditions at the jail.

In subsequent months, county officials expanded the capacity at branch jails and took other steps to reduce the jail population from more than 2,000 last March to between 1,600 and 1,700. Gray has ordered that the number be reduced to 1,500 by Jan. 15 and 1,400 by April 1.

County officials have acknowledged that the only long-term solution to the overcrowding problem is to build a new jail. But despite years of discussion and studies, the supervisors have not yet decided on a site for a new facility.

Coincidentally, the supervisors Tuesday approved the award of a $36.9-million contract to build an intake and release center next to the current jail. The facility will house inmates about to enter the jail, as well as those about to leave the jail after serving their time.

Laundry List

In his speech Tuesday, Riley cited a laundry list of other board achievements, including:

- Starting the dredging of Upper Newport Bay.

- Setting up joint-powers agencies to build three proposed transportation corridors in the county.

- Distributing more than $12 million for senior citizen centers.

- Acting to restrict smoking in public places.

Riley also predicted that the proposed U.S. Physical Fitness Academy will be built in Aliso Viejo, in his district, and that President Reagan will preside at the ground breaking, which he said would occur later this year.

Proponents of the academy have complained about the lengthy process needed to get county and state permission to build the facility in the coastal zone.