Hopes High for Jail Compromise
Councilman Greg Smith said this week he has hopes that Irvine’s new council majority--to be sworn into office Tuesday--will be receptive to a new proposal to expand the James A. Musick Branch Jail to a maximum of 4,400 beds.
The latest proposal, backed this week by the city of Lake Forest and the county Board of Supervisors, would provide for less than half of the 7,968 beds proposed under former Sheriff Brad Gates. It would also prohibit any maximum-security prisoners from being booked at Musick, which now houses 1,256 low-risk inmates. Gates’ plan would have the majority of prisoners there considered high-risk.
Mayor-elect Larry Agran and council members-elect Beth Krom and Chris Mears have said they will vote down the proposed compromise, which would put an end to three lawsuits filed by Irvine and Lake Forest against Gates’ expansion plans. They insist that no additional beds should be built at the jail, which sits in unincorporated territory between Lake Forest and Irvine and is scheduled for annexation by Irvine.
Smith said a discussion of the matter might persuade them to seek out a compromise.
“Maybe, when they hear all the facts, they’ll change their minds,” he said.
The council will consider the proposal at its meeting beginning at 6 p.m. in the chambers at City Hall, 1 Civic Center Plaza.
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