Anaheim : City Forces Gather to Battle Proposed Jail

Representatives of residents, developers, the tourism industry, the Los Angeles Rams, Disneyland and other groups met in a closed session Thursday morning to coordinate their opposition to a proposed county jail in the city.

The steering committee was subdivided into three subcommittees, which will oversee promotional, legal and financial aspects of battling the county on the issue, Anaheim spokeswoman Carol Johnson said.

Last month, the county Board of Supervisors designated a 7.6-acre site at Katella Avenue and Douglass Road, just half a mile from Anaheim Stadium, as the preferred site for a county jail to hold 1,500 inmates.

Allan B. Hughes, chairman of the new committee, said after the meeting that the various parties will work together to oversee the county’s environmental studies of the Katella-Douglass site, and any others that the county may consider for a new men’s jail. The county has been under pressure from a federal judge to ease jail overcrowding.

Hughes said the group also will work toward looking for alternatives.

“It’s very easy for us to go to the Board of Supervisors and say we don’t want a jail in Anaheim--no matter how justified. We need to tell them why we don’t want (the jail) and recommend alternates, Hughes said.

“The entire Anaheim community is rallying together to fight that decision. We feel not only that the board acted in bad faith but did not consider their viable options when choosing a jail site,” said a statement released by the group.