Jail Expansion Promptly Derailed by 205 Failure

Hours after the Board of Supervisors handed Sheriff Brad Gates a victory by voting to move ahead with expansion of the James A. Musick Branch Jail near Irvine, California voters set him back by as much as $75 million by rejecting Proposition 205, the jail bond initiative.

Gates and county officials had expected to use most of that money to expand the Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange, adding about 900 maximum-security beds. The rest they planned to spend converting Musick from a 1,200-bed minimum-security facility to a 7,500-bed maximum-security jail.

The proposition’s failure--59% to 41%, according to unofficial returns--forces county officials to find other ways of funding both expansions.

“Obviously, it will take us a little bit longer to get things done now,” Gates said Wednesday. “Somehow, we just need to keep moving forward.”

Gates plans to use a total of about $10 million from a federal grant, booking fees and other sources to help fund the Theo Lacy expansion and to go “back to the governor in January” as the state budget is being developed, he said.

The county has been under court order to solve its prison overcrowding problem, and after nearly two decades of examining various sites, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to proceed with plans for an expansion that would turn Musick into one of California’s largest maximum-security jails.

The plan angered many residents who live and work near the jail, located next to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Several of them said Wednesday that they feel a little vindicated by the bond measure’s failure.

“I was very relieved that it didn’t pass,” said Kathy Powers, 50, who lives a few hundred yards from the jail. “Maybe now, Brad Gates will have to reevaluate, since he’s got no money.”

Cathy Elder, 49, a Lake Forest resident who opposes the expansion, said: “I have to be honest; I only voted against Proposition 205 because of Musick. I wasn’t going to do anything to cooperate with that at all.”

Supervisor William G. Steiner, who favors a scaled-down project, said he hopes the failed bond measure will force Gates and other county officials to consider his view. Steiner had proposed Tuesday to expand Musick to 4,500 beds, but the motion failed.

“I think the failure of the jail bonds measure increases the likelihood that the James Musick jail will ultimately be scaled back,” Steiner said. “It definitely slows down the process, but it won’t be fatal.”

But on Wednesday in Serrano Park, the residential tract closest to the jail, homeowners spoke of ways to kill the project. The talk turned to lawsuits and ballot initiatives.

“That’s all people are talking about around here,” Elder said.

Marcel Fernandez, who is leading residents in the fight against the expansion, said that he was flooded with phone calls Wednesday after the supervisors’ vote.

“I had calls from people who never called me before,” Fernandez said. “It’s one thing to make this proposal and another to approve it.

“People are asking, ‘What can we do?’ Because we’re not going to let this happen.”