Gates Is Done to a Turn at Roast, but It’s All in Fun, for Good Cause

Two-hundred fifty people turned out Thursday night for what was billed as a “Wild, Wild West Roast” of Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates to raise funds for the Dayle McIntosh Center for the Disabled.

Dozens of people lined up to get their pictures taken with Gates, who wore the long frock coat, striped trousers and black string tie of an 1890s sheriff, topped by a cowboy hat.

Referring to Gates’ frequent budget problems with the Board of Supervisors, Seal Beach Police Chief Stacy Picascia joked that to economize Gates had contracted his SWAT team to deliver singing telegrams.

“First they surround your house, then lob tear gas through your windows and sing happy birthday on their bull horns--a real sensitive group,” he said.

Businessman Paul Salata joked that he came to the roast because “I thought it was Daryl Gates, the chief of police in Los Angeles, or somebody important.”

Peg Hall, the center’s community relations director, said she expected the event to raise about $35,000. The state matches the funds raised by the center from private sources.

The center, which is run by a private, nonprofit corporation, is based in Anaheim and provides services, training and information to help people with disabilities to live their lives as independently as possible in the community.

It opened 10 years ago and helps more than 300 people each month, Hall said.