Unified Foes of Measure J Are ‘Off and Running’ : Jails: Taxpayers Against J say they will make a grass-roots appeal to raise money to defeat the May 14 referendum.

The battle over Measure J, the jail tax initiative on the May 14 ballot, may turn into a real contest in the final weeks before the election, now that opponents have officially organized a committee to defeat the referendum.

Measure J opponents announced Monday that they have formed Taxpayers Against J--or TAJ, short for Taj Mahal, what critics have dubbed a proposed 6,700-bed jail for Gypsum Canyon near Anaheim Hills.

Opposition to Measure J has been unorganized since the half-cent sales tax initiative was put on the ballot in February. The measure, which would raise the county’s sales tax to 7%, is heavily backed by Sheriff Brad Gates and other law enforcement officials as a way to raise revenues for a new jail in Gypsum Canyon to relieve overcrowding.

“We’re off and running now,” said Anaheim Mayor Fred Hunter, one of the most vocal opponents to building a jail in Gypsum Canyon.

Following an early morning meeting in which the committee was formed, Hunter predicted that voters will balk at raising the county’s sales tax again, especially with the possibility that state taxes will be increased to offset a budget shortfall. Just last November, he pointed out, county voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase to fund transportation projects.

“In these recessionary times, I can’t see people going into the voting booth and pushing another button and saying, ‘I want to tax myself another half cent,’ ” he said.

TAJ will be chaired by Bob Zemel, an Anaheim Hills resident who owns a mortgage company, along with Georgia Cashman, whose family owns the Orange Independent, a community newspaper, and Orange City Councilman William G. Steiner.

Zemel said he has been involved in the fight against plans to build a Gypsum Canyon jail since 1986.

“I want to protect these hills from that gigantic jail out there that I call the Gates Motel,” Zemel said.

TAJ leaders said they don’t know how much money they will be able to raise through their efforts. The campaign, they said, will depend on grass-roots appeal and support.

In the meantime, the Committee to Keep Criminals in Jail, Gates’ pro-Measure J group, has raised about $120,000, said Eileen E. Padberg, a consultant who works for the group.

Padberg said it will be difficult to persuade Orange County voters to raise the sales tax for jail construction. But she said she is convinced that when they know that the sheriff has to release hundreds of inmates a week because of lack of space at the county’s five jails, they will decide that the money will be well spent.

“Every police chief in the county is saying they cannot continue to guarantee the safety of neighborhoods unless they have more jails to put the criminals in,” Padberg said.

“It comes down to priorities and what people are willing to pay for,” she said. “I believe they want to pay for safety and peace of mind.”

Hunter said he and other Measure J opponents plan to speak at various public forums scheduled before the election.