ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Lot of Confusion on Measure J

With less than six weeks left before the May 14 election, Measure J, which would authorize a half-cent sales tax increase for justice facilities, is still a mystery to most Orange County voters.

According to a recent Times Orange County Poll, for example, some people seem unaware that the majority of the revenues would be earmarked to build a new jail in Gypsum Canyon near the Anaheim Hills. In the short time remaining, better efforts must be made to inform voters about Measure J.

The poll indicated that 55% of voters still are inclined to support Measure J if--and this is crucial--they know that their tax money will go to build a jail such as that proposed for Gypsum Canyon. But the Board of Supervisors has not made it sufficiently clear it intends to build a jail there. That’s partly because, while the site was selected on a 3-2 vote in 1987, a fourth vote is needed to condemn the site because the current owner, the Irvine Co., doesn’t want to sell. Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, a Measure J proponent, now says he will force a vote on the condemnation issue soon, which at least would put board Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez and Supervisor Don R. Roth on record as holdouts.

But that’s not the only confusing issue in the truncated Measure J campaign. Sheriff Brad Gates, Measure J’s major proponent, is open about wanting to focus on jails rather than talk about other justice facilities, such as courtrooms, that could also be built with Measure J funds. Gates knows people are less inclined to vote to increase taxes to pay for courts than for jails. But putting too narrow a focus on Measure J’s campaign could deprive voters of the ability to make an informed decision.

Gates has also confused the issue by assuring cities that, if Measure J were to pass, the Board of Supervisors would probably revoke jail booking fees that cities must begin paying July 1. But the board would not be wise to revoke the fees in light of its own severe budgetary problems. A majority of board members have indicated that they won’t vote to end the fees.

The severity of the county’s jail crisis was highlighted this week as U.S. District Judge William P. Gray toured county jails. He must decide whether to impose a cap on the inmate populations at all five county jail facilities because of overcrowding. The county’s main jail population is already at the maximum number allowed by a federal court order. That order required Gates to shuffle inmates to other overcrowded jails and authorize cite-and-release and early-release programs that are putting more than 50,000 criminals a year on the streets. Caps on other jails would exacerbate the crisis.

The May 14 vote will give residents an opportunity to decide just how much they care. But there isn’t much time, and proponents owe voters more information on just what Measure J would do.