Backers, Opponents of Tax Hike for Jail File Official Arguments : Measure J: The levy, to be decided May 14, is criticized as one to fund a ‘Taj Mahal.’ Those in favor say new facility will keep neighborhoods safe.

Opponents of a sales-tax proposal that would raise money to build another county jail filed their ballot argument Friday, warning voters that a 6,700-bed facility in Gypsum Canyon would be an elaborate and costly “Taj Mahal” built at taxpayers’ expense.

“If this 30-year tax passes, Orange County will go from having the lowest sales tax in the state to having one of the highest--in one year,” says the ballot argument, written by Anaheim Hills-area residents and officials. “ . . . Protection from criminals is what we already pay taxes for. We should not have to pay again with another sales-tax hike.”

Orange County voters will decide whether to approve Measure J, which authorizes a half-cent tax for a new jail, in a May 14 special election.

The signers of the anti-Measure J argument, filed only five minutes before the 5 p.m. Friday deadline, are Anaheim Mayor Fred Hunter, Yorba Linda resident Richard Violett and William Wisner, vice chairman of the Foothill-Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency.

Supporters of the tax submitted their ballot argument earlier in the day Friday, contending that it would raise $343 million annually for a jail in Gypsum Canyon that is desperately needed to relieve the county’s overcrowded jail system.

Signing the pro-Measure J argument are several of Orange County’s top law enforcement officials, including Sheriff Brad Gates and Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, as well as a representative of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

“A drug dealer in Seal Beach--a drunk driver in Garden Grove--a burglar in Newport Beach--a drive-by shooting suspect in La Habra--a credit card thief in San Clemente. Because of overcrowding in our jails . . . these criminals got out of jail early!” the pro-Measure J argument says.

“Help your local police officers keep gang members, rapists, drunk drivers and drug pushers behind bars,” it adds.

The opponents charged that supporters are trying to scare people into voting for the sales tax.

“Don’t let them frighten you into voting for Measure J. Criminals convicted of serious crimes are not released--they are sent to state prison, not county jails,” their argument states.

If Measure J is approved, the extra half-cent sales tax would be levied for 30 years. It would be used solely for buying sites, building and operating new jails and other law-enforcement facilities.

“If we’re going to fight crime and drugs in Orange County, then we need a new jail immediately. No one likes taxes, but we think Measure J is a small price to pay for safe neighborhoods,” Gates said.

A location for a new jail has not yet been chosen, but Gypsum Canyon, an undeveloped canyon east of Anaheim owned by the Irvine Co., has been named the preferred site by a majority of the County Board of Supervisors.

Opponents of the Gypsum Canyon location, mostly residents and elected officials from the communities nearest to the site, argue that the backers of Measure J “have chosen the most expensive site and design alternative.”

Instead, they say, officials should consider lower-cost alternatives, such as letting private industry run the jail or building it in the desert.

“We want a jail, not a Taj Mahal. Wasting money is not the answer,” the argument asserts.

Hunter said he believes that Gypsum Canyon is the wrong place to build a jail, because the county would have to buy the land, which the Irvine Co. has announced plans to develop, and it is 17 miles from the nearest courthouse.

“The taxpayers are going to pay for this billion-dollar boondoggle,” said Hunter, a lawyer and former police officer. “Basically, Gypsum Canyon is bad politics and bad governmental planning. If we took government out of all this, private enterprise would never pick the most expensive site of all the ones they’ve looked at in past years.”

The pro-Measure J arguments specifically refer to Gypsum Canyon as the site for the jail. But the ballot measure approved by the Orange County Regional Justice Facilities Commission does not specify that it is the site that would be funded through the tax.

A majority of supervisors have already endorsed the Gypsum Canyon site, and the commission members are expected to also approve it.