ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Time to Break the Deadlock

Things appear to be coming to a head on the selection of a site for a new jail in Orange County. It’s about time.

Three years ago, the Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to build a jail in Gypsum Canyon near Anaheim Hills. But the landowner, the Irvine Co., was unwilling to sell, and a fourth vote is needed to condemn the land.

Now, the majority favoring the canyon site--Harriett M. Wieder, Thomas F. Riley and Roger R. Stanton--have signaled County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider to begin negotiations with the Irvine Co. If talks don’t move forward within 60 days, the supervisors say they will file suit to keep Anaheim from annexing the property in order to prevent construction of the jail. There may also be other legal strategies.

It’s fair to ask Wieder, Riley and Stanton why they haven’t taken these actions before. By not moving forward, supervisors were off the hook, a political convenience that has kept the county from facing up to the even bigger problem of how a new jail would be financed.

Several things have turned up the heat and put added pressure on Supervisors Don R. Roth and Gaddi H. Vasquez, who oppose the Gypsum Canyon site. First, a proposal by Roth to build the jail on a desert site in Riverside County was found to be far too costly. Also, prison expert Lawrence Grossman, who has long monitored the County Jail situation on behalf of U.S. District Judge William P. Gray, strongly backed the canyon site, and a grand jury urged the county to preserve its option of building there.

The board also faces the prospect of another hearing before Gray, who will expect progress toward building a jail. At present, county jails house 4,400 inmates in cells designed for 3,203. More than 50,000 people a year are either cited and released or released from jail early. Most are charged with minor crimes, but Sheriff Brad Gates says the community is at risk.

Only intense pressure has moved the supervisors off the dime. If it breaks the deadlock, good.