Court Action Clears Way for Jail Sales-Tax Vote

A Sacramento appeals court lifted an injunction in a longstanding jail sales-tax case Monday, clearing the way for the Orange County Board of Supervisors to proceed with plans for a possible special election on May 14.

“This allows the Board of Supervisors to breathe lifeblood into the Orange County Regional Justice Facilities Commission,” said Assistant County Counsel Laurence M. Watson, “and it will allow the commission to call an election.”

Lifting the injunction does not resolve the case--in which plaintiffs are arguing that such a tax should require a two-thirds vote of approval rather than a simple majority--and county officials could not begin collecting the tax or spending the money from it until there is a final ruling. It does clear the way for an election, however.

The injunction had prevented the county from naming members to the commission or taking steps toward holding an election until the issue of whether a two-thirds vote is necessary was decided.

With the injunction lifted, the county supervisors are expected to approve the formation of the commission at their meeting today and to appoint Supervisors Harriett M. Wieder and Roger R. Stanton to serve on it. Two more members will be chosen by an arm of the Orange County League of Cities, and a fifth will be named by the panel itself.

The commission will then decide whether to call a special election for May 14, when voters are expected to be deciding a runoff in the race for the 35th State Senate District. The commission will have until Feb. 15 to act, and all signs indicate that the matter will go right to the wire.

The sales tax issue has moved with lightning speed through the county bureaucracy. Officials from throughout the local government were scrambling Monday to wrap up loose ends at the same time they were firing the first salvos of what promises to be a lively campaign.

“I for one have made up my mind that we’re going to get this issue taken care of,” said Wieder, although she added that she has not yet decided whether to favor an election on May 14 or on a date sometime later this year. “You’re seeing all the ducks falling fast today, and that’s an indication of how important this issue is.”

Because May 14 is the date that there could be a vote in the 35th Senate District race, the county would save about $300,000 if it could put the sales tax vote on that ballot. A recent Times Orange County Poll showing strong support for a jail sales tax increase also is fueling support for an earlier voting date.

Doubts remain, however. The center of the 35th Senate District is in Anaheim, where opposition to the proposed Gypsum Canyon jail--a massive facility that would be about 10 miles east of downtown Anaheim--is likely to be strongest. Further, turnout for special elections is notoriously low, which means it would be harder to predict the tax measure’s fate than if it was scheduled for a higher-turnout election in 1992.

Sheriff Brad Gates, a leading proponent of the Gypsum Canyon jail, dismisses those concerns and urges officials to plunge ahead with a May election. In interviews with television and newspaper reporters Monday, the sheriff had new material to support the tax, and he warned that further delays will only increase the cost to county taxpayers.

“We need to solve this problem, and we need to solve it soon,” Gates said. “This has been building for a long time.”

Gates produced several charts, among them one titled “Pennies for Security” that details the amount of money a half-cent sales tax would add to some typical purchases.

According to the chart, the levy would raise the price of a $150 bicycle by 75 cents, a $450 television by $2.25, and a $16,000 car by $80.

Gates even offered a suggestion to city officials to sweeten the pot: The extra half-cent, he said, could bring in enough revenue to allow the county to rescind its recently adopted jail-booking fee, a levy that forces city governments to pay $154 for every inmate they book into county jails.

Such a rescission would have to come from the Board of Supervisors, however, and it seems unlikely that the board would rescind a fee it that it fought hard to win. But Bill Hodge, executive director of the Orange County League of Cities, welcomed the sheriff’s suggestion.

As lawyers hustled in Sacramento and jail backers politicked closer to home, activity was bustling on another front as well: Hodge announced that the league has scheduled a special Feb. 15 meeting of its city selection committee to appoint members to the jail commission.

That is the same day as the deadline for approving a sales tax ballot measure, setting the stage for one last flurry of activity if the measure is to make it onto the May 14 ballot.

Under the scenario outlined by Hodge, the selection committee would meet at 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 15. It would nominate two members to the commission, who would then be able to meet that same morning with other commission members to consider the special election date.

For the special election to take place May 14, the registrar of voters must be notified by 5 p.m. Feb. 15.

The prospect of such speedy deliberations does not dissuade Gates, who noted that construction of a new jail has been debated for years.

“If that’s the case, it will be quite a full day,” the sheriff said. “But it will be well worth the effort.