COUNTY ELECTIONS / MEASURE J : Proponents Stress Fear of Crime, Opponents Rally Against Taxes : News conferences in the last days before the jail-constructon vote spotlight the costs--on society and on the pocketbook.

SANTA ANA — In a verbal shootout four days before county voters go to the polls to decide the fate of Measure J, the half-cent sales-tax initiative for jail construction, campaign leaders on both sides of the issue held dueling news conferences Friday and appealed to the fears of citizens.

Sheriff Brad Gates employed the fear of crime, reiterating his argument that it’s tough to be tough on crime without the jail cells to keep criminals off the streets.

Of the 407 drunk drivers arrested during one week in February, he said, 343 were released prematurely because of jail overcrowding.

During a separate news conference, Measure J opponents, led by Anaheim Mayor Fred Hunter, appealed to the fear of higher taxes, saying Measure J is “a sham--it’s full of loopholes.”

If approved by voters, Measure J would increase the county’s sales tax to 7%. The 30-year levy would raise an average of $343 million annually and probably go toward building a regional jail in Gypsum Canyon.

Hunter also announced that the Orange County League of California Cities supports his resolution to oppose a state Assembly bill that would make it easier for the County Board of Supervisors to acquire Irvine Co.-owned land for the proposed Gypsum Canyon jail.

The bill, authored by Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), was approved by the Assembly on Thursday and is on its way to the Senate for consideration.

The bill would allow Orange County supervisors to initiate eminent domain proceedings on the Gypsum Canyon property with a simple majority vote. Under current state law, a four-fifths vote is needed for such action. Three of the five supervisors favor condemning the 2,512-acre Gypsum Canyon site east of Anaheim Hills.

Orange County cities opposing Umberg’s bill include Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, La Habra, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Orange, Placentia, Seal Beach, Tustin and Yorba Linda.

Cities favoring the legislation include Dana Point, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, and Santa Ana.

“In my opinion, it (the legislation) is a degradation and diminution, and a watering-down of private property rights,” Hunter said during the news conference, which included Placentia Mayor Arthur G. Newton, Yorba Linda Mayor Mark Schwing, Orange Councilman William G. Steiner and Taxpayers Against J Campaign Co-Chairman Bob Zemel.

In what Schwing called “fiscal folly,” the city officials attacked Measure J for not being well planned.

They said other alternatives should have been studied before rushing the tax measure onto the ballot, such as the expansion of facilities on present jail sites; the development of halfway houses; additional work-release programs; and a regional jail facility that would be jointly paid for by four counties but would make a percentage of the beds available for state prisoners and require the state to operate the facility.

Steiner also released results of a city staff study completed this week showing that Orange could drastically reduce the number of prisoners it books at the County Jail if it took several steps, including holding some prisoners until arraignment, and citing and releasing “low-grade” felony suspects who pose minimal threat to the community.

If these and other recommendations are approved by the council, Steiner said, the number of prisoners Orange police book at the County Jail in this year could drop to about 1,507 compared to 4,750 last year.

But at the news conference held by Measure J proponents that drew about three dozen supporters--including members of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, neighborhood association members and local police officers--Gates said the county has already exercised all available options.

“We are just at a point where there’s no more alternatives for us to legally do,” he said in an interview. “And on top of all of that alternative effort, we are still releasing 850 people a week that are going back to your neighborhood and my neighborhood. And we all know what they are doing there.”

He said efforts to cite and release inmates do not work, because many criminals will not show up for their court dates if they have been released from jail.

The sheriff also said that since 1987, 37,190 drunk drivers have been released from County Jail and about 40% of them were repeat offenders.