Block Reopens Jail After Board Pledges Funds

During a dramatic day of closed-door sessions and a showdown over control of the Los Angeles County jail system, Sheriff Sherman Block agreed Tuesday to reopen an Antelope Valley jail after the Board of Supervisors threatened to sue him.

The agreement came just hours after Block closed the Mira Loma jail and shipped its inmates to two other county facilities. As part of the compromise reached in a 90-minute closed-door meeting, Block also said he would scrap plans to close the Biscailuz jail in East Los Angeles and part of the Pitchess Honor Rancho in Castaic.

In return, the board agreed to drop its lawsuit threat and to provide Block with $4 million in emergency funding that it previously balked at releasing.

“We feel and the sheriff agrees this is a proper course of action,” board Chairman Ed Edelman said. “The board is unanimous in its view that the jail facilities that were being closed . . . should stay open.”

The agreement capped a tense day at the Hall of Administration, where county officials are grappling with a projected $1.4-billion budget deficit.

In a direct challenge to Gov. Pete Wilson, supervisors also voted to instruct the county auditor-controller to withhold property tax funds from the state if Sacramento approves a plan to transfer $2.6 billion in property tax revenue from local governments to schools.

About half of California’s 58 counties have adopted similar measures. However, the legality of the local tax revolt movement remains in question, Los Angeles County attorneys said Tuesday.

The supervisors’ debate over the county jail system and the Sheriff’s Department budget began shortly after 11 a.m., when Block officially closed the Mira Loma jail.

The sheriff said he was forced to shut down the facility because the board had failed to guarantee full funding for his department in the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Block’s plans called for reducing the jail population by closing three jails and transferring their inmates to other facilities, which would release prisoners to make room for the new arrivals. The releases started earlier this month.

Supervisor Gloria Molina attacked Block for insubordination. She said: “We told him not to do this, but he did it. He let those guys go. We can’t let these (released inmates) run amok in our communities. He wants high drama. Well, I can dish it out too.”

On the recommendation of County Counsel DeWitt Clinton, the board agreed to meet in its first closed session of the day to consider legal action against Block.

Underlying the conflict was the separation of powers that grants the supervisors control over the department’s finances while leaving Block, an elected official, in control of the day-to-day operations.

In the 45-minute closed session, the board decided to summon Block to the Hall of Administration to discuss the jail closures in an afternoon meeting, also behind closed doors.

“It’s important to get the sheriff’s position firsthand before we cause any confrontation,” Edelman said as the board waited for Block’s arrival. “I don’t think anyone wants that.”

The second closed session lasted more than 90 minutes. Both Block and the supervisors emerged in good spirits.

“We don’t want to handcuff the sheriff,” Supervisor Mike Antonovich said. “This is a step forward.”

“I think it’s a reasonable compromise,” Block said. Asked his reaction to the board debate on possible legal action against him, the sheriff said: “I just kind of shrugged my shoulders. I guess they’d have to get in line with all the other lawsuits.”

Sheriff’s officials began moving inmates out of Mira Loma on Tuesday morning as a pack of TV crews and reporters stood nearby. The 206 male and female inmates trudged onto four Sheriff’s Department buses that took them to what they thought would be their new homes, the Men’s Central Jail and Sybil Brand Institute.

They will return to Mira Loma in several days. “The buses run both ways,” Block quipped.

The change in plans will cause headaches for Mira Loma’s staff--among other things, they had already auctioned off a large collection of employee weight-lifting equipment.

Tuesday’s compromise came after several frantic weeks of negotiations that began in late April, when Block announced that he would close the jails. Supervisors ordered county officials to find other areas in the sheriff’s budget that could be cut. Officials said they had already cut to the bone.

The agreement preserves not only the jails, but also other Sheriff’s Department programs that were in danger of being cut, such as the Air Five rescue helicopter and two of the county’s five SWAT teams. It also forestalls the closure of as many as nine sheriff’s stations.

But it is a temporary measure at best.

“This is a one-month reprieve,” Block said, adding that the fate of the Sheriff’s Department budget will determined by the outcome of state budget negotiations.

Block said earlier that it would cost as much as $5 million a month to keep the jails operating until July 1. The board on Tuesday pledged $4 million of that amount. Block agreed to find the additional funds through savings in his budget.

The proposed Sheriff’s Department cuts are just part of a plan by county officials that calls for a 16% across-the-board cut in all services. Also threatened are closure of public hospitals, libraries and fire stations.

In a gesture meant to illustrate the severity of the county’s budget woes, the supervisors approved an ordinance by Antonovich to withhold property tax revenue from state authorities. The ordinance goes into effect if the state approves Wilson’s proposal to shift $2.6 billion from local government to schools.

Antonovich said he introduced the measure because Wilson’s plan to have counties balance their budgets with additional local sales taxes would not work.

Wilson’s sales tax plan amounts to double taxation, Antonovich said. “The governor is saying you should impose a sales tax to pay for property-related services” such as fire protection and law enforcement.

County attorneys acknowledged that it remains unclear whether counties have the authority to withhold property tax revenue from the state.

“Obviously, there is a conflict between (county) and state law,” Clinton said. “We will do our best to present the county’s position.”

Edelman said the action “throws down the gauntlet” to Sacramento officials. “This may well lead to a legal fight, but we have no other choice. Our backs are against the wall. For us to simply allow this to occur without putting up a fight would be irresponsible.”

Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said: “We have to do this. It’s absolutely necessary. Ultimately, we’re going to have to look at restructuring local government in California.”

Times staff writer John Chandler contributed to this story.