Anti-Airport Measure Spurs Jail Talk

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona said Thursday that a proposed initiative aimed mainly at killing the planned airport at El Toro is forcing him to step up plans to enlarge a county jail facility in Lake Forest.

Carona said he has no choice but to move ahead on a project to expand the James A. Musick Branch Jail from 1,100 beds to 7,584 beds because passage of the initiative would make approving any new jail sites practically impossible.

“They may have pushed me into building Musick, and we’ll have to do it now,” Carona said late Thursday. “It’s either [new] jail beds or prisoners released on the streets. I can’t take a chance that I won’t have a place to build a jail.”

The initiative would require a two-thirds vote of the public for any new or expanded airports, jails and hazardous-waste landfills. Specifically, any jail expansion of 1,000 beds within a half-mile of 100 or more homes would require voter approval.

The sheriff said he previously agreed to ask county supervisors to place a moratorium on expansion plans while he continued talks with South County city leaders on alternative jail sites. A recent county report showed the jail system needs 5,000 additional beds.

But Carona said he now has given county attorneys “the green light” to complete environmental work on the expansion while he analyzes the possible impacts of the initiative.

Lake Forest Mayor Peter Herzog said the proposed measure contains a provision that could allow a large jail expansion without a public vote. The provision states that a vote would not be taken if there is a court judgment or agreement to allow the expansion.

In Orange, for instance, lawsuits by the city against the county resulted in a settlement that allows for an expansion of the Theo Lacy Branch Jail. Herzog said the measure would not prohibit that expansion.

The cities of Lake Forest and Irvine have suits pending against the county to block expansion of the Musick facility. Herzog said that passage of the initiative would not affect any expansion reached through a settlement before election day.

“Our intention has always been to work with Sheriff Carona and come up with a solution,” Herzog said. “There is no need to move ahead on Musick.”

Supporters of the proposed initiative will seek voter signatures in an effort to qualify it for the March 7, 2000, election.

Many of the city leaders who are part of the coalition opposing the commercial airport at El Toro also are fighting the county’s plans to expand Musick.

On Thursday morning, the anti-airport coalition, known as the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA), approved the measure’s final language and voted to send it to the county Board of Supervisors.

The board could place it on the ballot without voter signatures, but ETRPA and other South County airport foes doubt the board would approve it. That’s because three of the five supervisors already have said they oppose it.

However, Jeff Metzger, chairman of the anti-airport Citizens for Safe and Healthy Communities, filed the proposed initiative Thursday with county elections officials so his group could begin gathering signatures soon.

“We’ve already had interest from people all over Orange County to help with this,” Metzger said.

Volunteers need 71,206 signatures of registered voters before Sept. 1 to qualify the initiative for the March ballot.

“I’m against the initiative, and I think it’s wrong,” board Chairman Charles V. Smith said. “This would not only affect El Toro, but it would prevent us from building a new jail in Orange County [and] the expansion of Musick.”

Supervisor Todd Spitzer said he’ll support the initiative because it would stop planning for the El Toro airport. “And I’m for voters having another say,” he said.

Airport foes said they hope to raise $3 million to promote the initiative and expect airport supporters to raise up to $6 million to fight it.

Political consultant Frank Caterinicchio of Newport Beach said he has been approached by airport backers willing to fund an unusual campaign. They want to persuade voters who sign the measure to remove their names, he said.

“There’s a danger in creating a precedent for requiring a two-thirds vote on any big development statewide,” Caterinicchio said. “What they’ve done is picked up enemies they never had before.”