Rivalries for Courthouse Turning Into a Gouge Match : Public works: Santa Ana officials feel unfairly outflanked by Irvine and Laguna Niguel in bidding for $79.8-million building. Foes deny it.

By law, a new federal courthouse proposed for Orange County should be in the county seat, Santa Ana.

But the law can be changed.

Now, after almost 20 years of hoping and planning, Santa Ana officials are fighting mad that Laguna Niguel and Irvine have become last-minute entries in the competition for the prized, $79.8-million project.

As they lobby Washington with their proposal for the 218,000-square-foot courthouse, Santa Ana officials are taking aim at the politically powerful Irvine Co., which has aided Irvine’s bid by offering land at the firm’s Irvine Spectrum business center.

“The Irvine Co. is trying to steal the federal courts (building) because they have a half-empty Spectrum,” Santa Ana City Manager David N. Ream said.

“How deep is their sense of responsibility when they will give land for federal courts, but they will not even sell land for a (county) jail?” he asked, referring to the Irvine Co.’s refusal to sell land in Gypsum Canyon for a 6,720-bed regional jail.

Ream and Santa Ana Mayor Daniel H. Young said this is not a “city vs. city” battle, but a “city vs. the Irvine Co.” fight, with Santa Ana the political underdog.

“This is not a piece of city land in Irvine, it’s the Irvine Co.’s land,” Young said. “How do you say it’s not your project when it’s on your land?”

But Irvine officials strongly protested any suggestion that the Irvine Co. is the force behind the city’s bid. “Mayor Young is kicking and screaming about this, blaming the Irvine Co.,” Irvine Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan said. “But this is a city where the Irvine Co. owns the land and the City Council is asking (the company) to donate the land.”

She added that city officials had to persuade the firm to donate the 3 acres.

Donald L. Bren “did not get that rich by giving stuff away,” Sheridan said, referring to the Irvine Co. chairman.

Irvine Co. Vice President Larry Thomas said the firm is not eager to donate the land to spin off more development. “It’s not like we need to manage land or to give land away,” he said. “Land is our corporate asset, and we have both land and time. We are seldom moved by short-term considerations for economic development.

“This was not an economic decision that was made on our part,” he added. “We were motivated by our desire to be responsive to the mayor, and we stand by the mayor.”

Santa Ana’s claim to the federal courthouse dates back more than 20 years when Jerry Patterson, the former congressman who was then on the City Council, suggested placing such a facility in the county. In 1980, a federal law was amended to designate Santa Ana and Los Angeles as sites where courthouses could be built.

In 1986, temporary court facilities were built in Santa Ana’s Civic Center Plaza, where there are other federal offices.

But last spring, the General Services Administration, which oversees federal property, recommended that the new courthouse be built on a 92-acre tract in Laguna Niguel. Santa Ana was ruled out because the Laguna Niguel site is already owned by the federal government, thus eliminating about $3 million in land acquisition costs.

As Santa Ana prepared to improve its proposal, city officials were further stunned when they learned that Irvine, using Irvine Co. land, was also bidding.

Irvine’s bid was prompted by Rep. Glenn M. Anderson (D-Harbor City), vice chairman of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation, whose district lies solely in Los Angeles County.

Santa Ana officials worried when they learned that the Irvine Co. had been contacted by Anderson’s chief of staff, James W. Barich. Until recently, Barich had been the firm’s government relations director.

But Barich said that he was following Anderson’s orders when he called the developer and local business groups and that Anderson “has no problem with Santa Ana, he just wants to make sure we get the most bang for the buck.”

Almost simultaneously, Sheridan received a call from Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), whose district includes Irvine, Laguna Niguel and part of Santa Ana.

Cox said this week he would like even more competition: “It seems to me the door is still open.”

The decision on where to place the courthouse will be made by the House Public Works panel’s subcommittee on government buildings and grounds.

Last week, Ream and two Santa Ana council members hand-delivered to Washington an offer to donate a 5-acre tract on 5th Street, across from the Orange County Transportation Authority’s regional terminal.

During a subcommittee hearing this week, Young argued that Santa Ana is the county’s largest city, is the county seat and has extensive support facilities, such as a law library and Orange County Jail. He added that the site is easily accessible to freeways and trains.

But the Irvine tract, Sheridan said, is strategically sited at the Santa Ana, San Diego and Laguna freeways and is also near train and bus service. By the turn of the century, she added, South County’s population is expected to grow by 14%, in contrast with just 6% for the rest of the county.

Laguna Niguel Mayor Patricia C. Bates said her city is centrally located between Los Angeles and San Diego. The federally owned site has ample room for further expansion and would not require construction funds for parking.

Santa Ana officials later criticized the president of the Orange County Bar Assn., Andrew J. Guilford, for stating a “personal preference” for the Irvine site. Guilford’s Newport Beach law firm leases space from the Irvine Co.

“My biggest concern right now,” Guilford responded, “is that we not allow a political dispute between geographic locations to cause a political delay of something that’s long overdue.”

Ream questioned whether it is good public policy to place a facility in one of the county’s richest census tracts rather than in one of its least affluent areas.

But Sheridan said she has a right to pursue a project that would be good for her city.

“The city of Santa Ana thought this was a slam dunk, and they got caught by surprise, and the mayor and city manager are furious,” she said. “Mayor Young makes some very compelling arguments. But plans change. The county has changed.”