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A majority of OC supervisors supported a contentious state ballot measure today, arguing that Proposition 36 would reduce street crimes and bring back penalties for repeat offenders as one of their colleagues argued they were going back to a state of mass incarceration.
California voters will get a chance in November to weigh in on Prop. 36 which if approved would force people charged with certain drug possession crimes into rehab or serve jail time, as well as increase costs for state prisons and courts.
On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 in support of the ballot measure at the request of Supervisors Don Wagner and Doug Chaffee, joining a host of municipalities across the state coming out publicly in favor of Prop. 36.
“These crimes are harming businesses and residents alike,” Wagner said. “It’s past time to act.”
Vicente Sarmiento, the lone supervisor to speak out against the proposition, said it would only “reignite the failed war on drugs.”
“Unfortunately this proposition is a false promise and not a fix,” Sarmiento said. “Defaulting to a system where there’s a lack of critical thought … is going to lead to bad consequences.”
He also highlighted a report from the state legislative analyst’s office, which claims the proposition “would increase state criminal justice costs, likely ranging from several tens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of millions of dollars each year” toward prisons.
The analyst’s office also found it would shift spending by undoing parts of the controversial Proposition 47, which reduced offenses for certain theft and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.
“This would reduce the amount the state must spend on mental health and drug treatment, school truancy and dropout prevention, and victim services. This reduction likely would be in the low tens of millions of dollars annually,” reads the report.
The report also highlighted how local governments like Orange County would have to spend more on their jails as well.
“That means bigger cuts to schools, healthcare, and other essential services,” Sarmiento said. “This is an expedient way to just lock folks up.”
Supervisor Katrina Foley fired back, saying this only would lock up people who were already harming the community.
“Don’t sell fentanyl, heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine to others and this won’t apply to you,” Foley said. “Don’t commit crimes and this doesn’t apply to you, it’s pretty simple.”
Supervisor Andrew Do, whose home was raided by the FBI in August amid a federal investigation into millions of missing taxpayer dollars and has missed the subsequent meetings, was absent from the meeting.
Tuesday’s vote comes as cities across Orange County like Santa Ana, Westminster, Stanton, Brea, Seal Beach and Laguna Beach have passed resolutions in support of the statewide measure on the November ballot.
[Read: Orange County Debates How California Should Address Street Crime]
Proponents like the California District Attorneys Association, law enforcement groups, retailers including Target, Walmart and Home Depot and the California League of Cities say the measure will make cities safer, incentivizes treatment over prison and combats the fentanyl crisis.
OC Sheriff Don Barnes also called on supervisors to support the proposition, saying concerns about it were “tremendously overblown.”
“It’s not a pendulum swinging violently from left to right, but to the middle,” Barnes said. “If they choose to continue committing crimes, there’s accountability in there.”
Critics like Governor Gavin Newsom, Chispa, the Los Angeles Times editorial board and the American Civil Liberties Union say Prop. 36 will overcrowd prisons, reignite the war on drugs and waste millions of taxpayer dollars on jails and prisons.
At a virtual news conference last week, Newsom said the measure has significant public support throughout California, but he has a different point of view.
“If the people of the state of California want to move in this direction, bring us back to the 1980s war on drugs for nonviolent drug possession, spend $120-$130,000 a year on state prisons over other common sense strategies and solutions than that’s certainly the will of the people.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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