Supervisors Spike Gates’ S. County Substation Plan

In a stunning defeat for outgoing Sheriff Brad Gates, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to postpone a plan he had endorsed to build a second substation in South County, delaying action until Sheriff-elect Mike Carona takes office in January.

The 3-2 vote came after Carona and elected officials from Lake Forest and Irvine pleaded with the board to defer its decision.

“Lake Forest does not want the substation there. We are forcing it on the city,” Carona said. “I have not been a part of the decision-making process, and I want to make sure [the board] does not spend money where they don’t have to.”

In late 1995, the county built a $3.4-million sheriff’s substation in Aliso Viejo for patrols on the west side of Interstate 5, replacing the aging, rat-infested trailers that had served as sheriff’s headquarters in South County since 1978. The new substation would serve Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita and Portola Hills, which lie east of the freeway.

But “that location may not be the best place to put a substation in south Orange County,” Carona said.

The board’s vote was a blow to Gates, who has been pushing for construction of the substation as well as expansion of the James A. Musick Branch Jail near Irvine. He has said there is a critical shortage of bed space for prisoners and that his deputies need help patrolling South County’s unincorporated areas.

Supervisor William G. Steiner voted along with South County Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Tom Wilson, who have opposed the substation and Musick expansion plans from the outset.

“I still believe that Musick should be expanded at some point,” Steiner said. “But what swayed me tonight was the elected sheriff stating that he wouldn’t use the facilities, and that is a very powerful statement I just couldn’t ignore.”

Said Spitzer: “Now it is not just two supervisors but the person who is going to be taking over the sheriff’s position who is saying, ‘Postpone the projects.’ ”

Gates left the meeting immediately after the vote and would not comment. He had said earlier: “I hate to see the safety of the people in this county suffer as a result of delaying this item any further.”

The new substation would include space for officers’ desks and computer equipment, a parking area for patrol vehicles and holding cells for suspects.

Plans to transform the Musick facility from a medium-security jail housing 1,200 prisoners to a maximum-security prison for 7,500 inmates has galvanized South County residents.

The cities of Irvine and Lake Forest have filed lawsuits to halt the expansion, saying the jail is too close to homes and schools to house violent felons. And Lake Forest officials have threatened to contract police services with the city of Irvine if the county places the new substation in their city.

Carona also opposes expansion of Musick jail.