Jail Funding Bill Alive Again as Deal Is Made

After a telephone conference call to patch up differences with Santa Ana city officials, state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) on Tuesday revived legislation that would allow Orange County voters to consider a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for a new county jail.

Two weeks ago, an angry Bergeson withdrew her sales tax bill--considered by many to be the county’s only hope of solving the jail overcrowding problem--after Santa Ana city officials went around her and persuaded the Senate Judiciary Committee to add an amendment precluding the construction of a jail in their city.

But Bergeson changed her mind after a series of discussions with Santa Ana city officials culminated in a delicate political compromise hammered out during a telephone conference call Monday among the senator, Santa Ana Mayor Daniel H. Young, Councilman Miguel A. Pulido and Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates.

And at her urging, the Senate committee voted 6 to 1 on Tuesday to revive the sales tax bill and send it on its way through the Legislature.

As part of the compromise, Santa Ana officials agreed to drop their amendment, which called for no new jails to be built closer than 1 mile to a school. They believed the provision would have protected them from a countywide ballot measure calling for any new jail to be built in downtown Santa Ana, which is less than a mile from seven schools. The main County Jail is already in downtown Santa Ana.

In exchange, Bergeson agreed to let her bill go through the Legislature but pull it before it hits the governor’s desk for final approval if the Orange County Board of Supervisors doesn’t make a decision on where to put the proposed jail by Sept. 15--the date that state lawmakers adjourn for the year.

Santa Ana Councilman Pulido said after Tuesday’s Senate action that the compromise now turns up the heat on the county supervisors.

“We’re definitely forcing the county’s hand,” he said. “If they don’t vote, it (Bergeson’s bill) goes belly up.”

Yet after the committee hearing, Bergeson said she had called Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas F. Riley and is confident that the county board will be able to approve a site for a 6,000-bed facility--most likely in Gypsum Canyon--by her mid-September deadline. The board is scheduled to take a vote on the final environmental impact report for Gypsum Canyon in early September.

Moving Forward

“I think the Board of Supervisors . . . has every intention of moving forward and approving the site after the (environmental report),” Bergeson said.

Riley agreed, saying Tuesday that it was the “intent of the majority” that the Gypsum Canyon site “is the one we would most like to see selected,” especially since the county has already paid more than $6 million for an environmental report on the location.

Riley also said he was happy with the compromise between Bergeson and Santa Ana officials, who he said were “foolish” for challenging the senator with an amendment on her bill.

“Maybe I’m naive,” said Riley. “Personally, I have such high regard for the senator and I would think that they (Santa Ana officials) know the board pretty well. Instead of rolling all the guns together to make this political move, it could have been handled in a visit or coming over and accepting one’s word on what you were going to do.”

The compromise has saved--for the moment--what Riley and others say is the only viable option for the county to solve its jail overcrowding. The county is desperate for a way to add inmate beds; Gates says more than 43,000 criminals last year had to be released early because there is no more room to hold them. The county is also under a federal court order to find new jail space.

$100 Million a Year

Bergeson’s bill would ask county voters on the 1990 ballot whether the new money should come from a half-cent sales tax increase. If approved, the increase would result in an additional $100 million a year for the county.

That amount is not nearly enough for the $434 million in expansion and new facilities currently needed, but county officials said it is crucial “seed” money to launch those projects.

Pulido said Tuesday that it was never his city’s intention to hamper the county from finding enough money for the jails. The city’s successful attempt last month to amend Bergeson’s bill was necessary to protect the best interests of Santa Ana in the face of an initiative, scheduled for for the ballot in June, 1990, which calls for all new jail construction to be in the county seat, he said.

“Our purpose was not to kill the bill but to seek equity,” said Pulido, who added that passage of the amendment “allowed us to go to the table and basically be treated equally.” Pulido said discussions leading up to the compromise began almost immediately after Bergeson announced she would withdraw her bill. “We started to talk. She called our offices, the City Council. Brad Gates called. She sent a letter and it said, ‘I’m ready to carry the bill if you drop the amendment,’ ” he said.

On Monday, Pulido said that he and Mayor Young visited Gates to “clarify” Santa Ana’s position in the matter and that the three decided to make a telephone conference call to Bergeson’s Sacramento office and seal the deal. What has resulted, said Pulido, is a “win-win situation.”

Predates Initiative Vote

Pulido said a county decision on putting the jail in Gypsum Canyon by September would predate the initiative vote next year. Since the citizens measure is not retroactive, it would not affect the Gypsum Canyon decision, he contended.

Part of the deal, added Pulido, is that Gates will publicly oppose the citizens initiative, which is sponsored by Taxpayers for a Centralized Jail.

“That is significant to receive the formal endorsement of the sheriff,” said Pulido.

However, Gates said Tuesday that he has already publicly opposed the initiative. “I’ve been in a public position for some time that I’m opposed to an initiative process that takes over the role of the County Board of supervisors,” said Gates.

Gates said Tuesday he would continue to speak out against the initiative.