Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : COUNTY : Supervisors Vow to Seek Jail as New Law Cuts Off State Funds

It was win one, lose one last week for opponents of the county’s plan to build a maximum-security jail near Anaheim Stadium.

The victory came when Gov. George Deukmejian allowed into law a measure barring state funds for a jail at the Anaheim site.

But the setback came when a majority of the Orange County Board of Supervisors vowed to go forward with plans for a 1,500-bed jail east of the Orange Freeway, even though the new law leaves the county scrambling to find $141 million in construction funds.

A report to the supervisors, released last week, concluded that the jail will have no significant adverse environmental impact, nor will it be likely to decrease property values or increase crime in the area--the two chief concerns prompting opposition by Anaheim residents and businesses.

The consultant’s report said studies in Florida, Canada, Wisconsin, California and Alabama showed that “real estate values tend to increase slightly within the proximity of the prison facility. A prison’s presence does not appear to have been a deterrent to development in any city.” Nor was there evidence that a prison “produces an increase in local crime,” the report stated.

But those statements were challenged by a leading member of the Jail Action Committee, a coalition of Anaheim residents and businesses, including Disneyland, the Los Angeles Rams and the California Angels.

“I don’t think you have to look much further than the area around Santa Ana itself,” where the county’s main jail is located, to disprove the consultant’s point, said Floyd L. Farano, an Anaheim attorney.

While the governor allowed into law the bill barring jail funds for the Anaheim site, Deukmejian criticized two state legislators for meddling in local government affairs. The Anaheim site provision was inserted by Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove) and Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) into a $495-million statewide jail bond allocation bill.