J Gets the Nod for Ballot Measure on--You Got It--Jail

After rejecting the letter P for protection and C for criminal , the commission that recently voted to schedule a May 14 half-cent sales tax referendum decided Monday to list the item on the ballot as Measure J--for jails .

Meeting for only the second time, the Orange County Regional Justice Commission also decided to ask public-interest organizations, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and law enforcement groups, to submit ballot arguments in favor of Measure J. If approved, the measure would increase the county’s sales tax by half a cent to raise funds for jail construction.

Commission members said that because they would be charged with adopting a plan to determine how to spend the money that would be raised by Measure J, they need to distance themselves from the politics of getting the measure approved. “We did not want to be perceived by the public as being involved in a political process,” said attorney Wylie A. Aitken, one of the five commission members. “We did not want to compromise our ability to be objective.”

Deadline for submitting the arguments to the registrar of voters office is 5 p.m. Friday. Those who oppose the measure will have 10 days after that to submit ballot arguments. If more than one argument is submitted for either side, Registrar of Voters Donald F. Tanney said he will choose, with the help of legal advisers, which argument will appear on the sample ballot mailed to voters before the election.

Rick Violett, a resident of Anaheim Hills who is opposed to a jail in Gypsum Canyon, the county’s preferred site, said commission members are correct in thinking that the public perceives them as biased.

“I think they’re wise enough to call in some group that will appeal to voters as a whole,” he said. “They’re smart enough to know that people don’t want to hear from the same voices over and over again. It also sounds like they’ve listened to pressure from people who aren’t pleased by this slam-dunk, hurry-up routine. . . . They know they need some other group to give them better credibility,” said Violett, referring to the rapid pace with which the jail issue has made its way to the ballot.

Last month, Sheriff Brad Gates, who has been under pressure for more than a decade to ease jail overcrowding, urged county supervisors to name a commission that is empowered to call an election. But the time line was so tight that three of the five commission members were chosen at their first meeting, only hours before the deadline for filing the ballot measure in time for the May 14 election.

Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder chairs the commission. In addition to Aitken, the other members are Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, La Palma Mayor Keith Nelson and Irvine Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan.

At their meeting Monday, commission members drew lots to decide how long each of them would serve. By law, the members have to stagger their terms so that not all of them are replaced at once. Sheridan and Aitken drew two-year terms, while Nelson and Stanton drew three-year terms. Wieder drew a 4-year term.

The commission also agreed to set regular meetings on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at 9 a.m. at the Hall of Justice in Santa Ana.

At their next meeting, March 13, the commission is expected to come up with a preliminary report on how to spend the funds raised by Measure J, if it is approved--an estimated $244 million a year.

Gates, who has spearheaded the tax initiative, has been working to find support for the initiative.

Janet Cater, administrator of the Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the sheriff wrote her group a letter last week asking for its support.

Cater said her group has been frustrated by the county’s “cite and release” program, in which suspects accused of certain crimes are cited but not booked because of a lack of jail beds. Cater said many of those being released are drunk-driving suspects.

“When drunk drivers are the first to be released with a ‘cite and release’ program, it is extremely frustrating for us and for the victims’ families,” she said. “If there is no place to take them, it just creates a safety problem.”