Flawed Tax Measure Still Rates Approval : * Quibbles Should Not Hold Up New Jail Space

Orange County voters will finally get a chance May 14 to vote on a measure that would raise money to build a much-needed new jail and other criminal-justice facilities. Measure J, as it will be called on the ballot, would increase sales taxes by half a cent, with most of the money earmarked for a jail in Gypsum Canyon near Anaheim Hills. Although flawed, the measure deserves support.

The Board of Supervisors is already years late in resolving the jail issue. The county has been under a federal court order since 1978 to improve jail conditions, including overcrowding of the Santa Ana Central Men’s Jail. Faced with a contempt order and fines for failing to comply with the order, Sheriff Brad Gates instituted drastic cite-and-release and early-release programs, resulting in the release of 186,000 inmates since 1986. Most were charged with minor crimes, but last year Gates said the releases had reached the point where they presented a danger to the community. Municipal judges are so angered by these releases that they are threatening to cite Gates for contempt.

Meanwhile, the board has been immobilized for four years over the issue of where to build a jail and how to pay for it. Only recently, legislation was proposed that, if enacted, would clear the way to acquire the site by condemnation. Now the board, urged by Gates and bolstered by a Times poll earlier this year indicating strong support for a sales tax for jails, has put the matter before voters.

But the slapdash way that Measure J was put together--and, especially, the lack of details about the way the money would be spent--is a problem. Even voters who are diligent, for example, will not know from the ballot language that the jail would be built in Gypsum Canyon, or exactly what other criminal-justice facilities would be built. All that will be left to future planning.

Although it is known that Measure J would raise an average $343 million a year over 30 years, the size of the Gypsum Canyon facility, now designed to house 6,720 inmates, is under review. Proponents have also not adequately answered questions about the cost of operating a jail, or whether Measure J money would cover those costs. This confusion argues strongly for the formation of an aggressive citizen oversight committee to help develop a comprehensive plan.

Also working against Measure J is the timing of the vote, which comes during a recession. Gov. Pete Wilson, trying to raise revenue for the seriously unbalanced state budget, recently proposed raising sales taxes statewide by 1 1/4 cents. If Measure J is passed as well, that would bring Orange County’s sales taxes from the current 6 1/2 cents to 8 1/4 cents. But that would still be in line with other major urban counties.

Formal opposition to Measure J has centered in the Anaheim area, where residents are fearful about the proximity of the Gypsum Canyon facility. But no matter where a jail is built there will be neighborhood concerns. That alone cannot be the deciding factor.

All in all, the Board of Supervisors can be commended for finally making a move to resolve the jail issue. But after years of stalling, the board moved so suddenly that Measure J is nowhere near the thoughtful proposal that voters deserve. Yet for all of these shortcomings, turning down the measure would invite more delay and avoidance of the issue by the supervisors.

The crisis has gone on so long that voters must now take matters into their own hands, or risk losing the opportunity to provide desperately needed criminal-justice facilities for the county.