Initiative to Restrict New Jails to Santa Ana Wins Certification

A citizens’ group that has waged a yearlong battle against plans for a jail in Gypsum Canyon succeeded Wednesday in winning ballot certification from the Orange County registrar of voters for an initiative that would prohibit the construction of county jails outside Santa Ana.

County officials said they expect the measure to be scheduled for the June, 1990, ballot.

“A lot of people said it couldn’t be done,” Rick Violett, president of Taxpayers for a Centralized Jail, said Wednesday. “It was a long-term commitment just to get the people involved.”

The initiative specifically mentions the 6,000-bed maximum-security jail planned for Gypsum Canyon. But County Counsel Adrian Kuyper said Wednesday that he is researching whether an initiative can prohibit the building of a facility that might already be under construction before voters decided whether to approve it.

It is too late to put the initiative on the November ballot, and the next countywide election is not until June, 1990.

County officials said, however, that the matter might be put on a ballot earlier if a special countywide election is ordered for another reason.

The first phase of the Gypsum Canyon jail is scheduled to be completed in 1992.

Two weeks ago, Taxpayers for a Centralized Jail turned in 112,215 signatures supporting the drive to put the initiative on the ballot, said Donald Tanney, registrar of voters. To reach the ballot, the measure required the signatures of 65,110 registered voters in the county.

Based on a random sample of 5% of the signatures, Tanney said Wednesday, the initiative has easily fulfilled the requirement.

Tanney said the Board of Supervisors probably will vote on the initiative in two weeks, when they will be asked to schedule the initiative for the ballot or to adopt it as an ordinance.

The board also could order a 45-day study, after which it would have to adopt the measure or set a vote.

Supervisor Don R. Roth, who represents Anaheim and opposed the Gypsum Canyon jail site in a 3-2 vote last summer, said he believes the board will vote to put the measure on the June, 1990, ballot.

Later this month, the board is expected to consider an environmental impact report for the jail, offering another flash point for the controversy.

Violett said his organization is gearing up for that meeting.

Said Roth: “In my opinion, the board has to take it very, very slow and certainly not spend any more money on the site until it’s clarified.”

The initiative has already caused a dispute among the county, Santa Ana and other nearby cities, especially Anaheim.

Santa Ana officials are preparing an attack on the initiative. Anaheim City Councilman Irv Pickler said Wednesday that getting the initiative on the ballot “is one of the best things that could have happened to Anaheim.” Pickler said that he will campaign for the initiative and that Santa Ana should accept the facility as part of the responsibility of being the county seat.