On Tuesday, Baca agreed to hold off on closing a jail or releasing prisoners until September, but only after a testy exchange with the board.
He first threatened to close the downtown Men's Central Jail in February, complaining of a projected $72-million budget gap. He backed off in April after supervisors proposed cutting only $31.6 million from his budget.
Then last month Baca was asked to cut $25 million more as part of continued countywide belt-tightening, and he sent county supervisors a letter saying he would close the 1,600-bed North Facility on Wednesday. The sheriff said he planned to move the jail's 187 staff to other facilities, transfer some inmates and release others early.
Speaking to the board Tuesday, Baca said he did not want to close the jail. He suggested an alternative: Tap utility user tax revenues to make up the cuts they wanted from his budget.
"You've got to fund it if you don't want it closed," Baca said, criticizing supervisors for "attacking the sheriff's budget."
Supervisor Gloria Molina castigated Baca, accusing him of using the jail closure as a ploy to get more money.
As they did in 2002 when Baca came under fire for buying a $2.4-million jet and for legal expenses they called excessive, supervisors said Tuesday that Baca needs to do more to reduce his expenses. They had some suggestions: Eliminate excessive overtime, cut administrative positions or get rid of his boat patrol in Marina del Rey.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky noted that one deputy last year earned more than $235,000 in salary and overtime.
"You're not the only department that's having to go through this," Molina said. "We're going to look through every bit of your budget. We're in tough times right now."
"Go ahead," Baca shot back.
County supervisors stopped short of calling for an audit of the Sheriff's Department. And they gave some ground, granting Baca at least three more months to work with the county's chief executive on alternatives to jail closures and layoffs.
"I thought the sheriff had realized that's not the way to go, that the board is not intimidated by his threats," Molina said. "I don't know why he always feels like he's being singled out. We have padded his budget. During the good years we have been very generous."
After the meeting, Baca said he agreed to keep the jail open with the understanding that county leaders will allow him to use up to $6 million in surplus money from this year's budget to cover jail costs in the short term. Such surplus money usually reverts to the county's general fund to be distributed among departments.
But William T Fujioka, the county's chief executive, said the tax revenues could also be claimed by other department heads who have made deep cuts in recent weeks.
"No one has a lock on that money," Fujioka said.
Baca said county supervisors have given other departments more time to deal with much larger budget shortfalls, such as health services, which still has a $277-million budget gap to fill.
Told that the interim director of health services, John Schunhoff, has yet to publicly threaten to close a hospital or clinic, Baca replied: "Well, he ought to."
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molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com
