Well, here you go and here we go. One step closer to being just another boring e-zine. Yeah, right!

LA Certifies Petition Signatures
November 4, 2003

After meeting the October 25 deadline for the petition against the so called anti-lap dancing ordinance, the strip club owners of Los Angeles have been given what could be called a stay of execution for the time being.  LA City have certified that more than the required 57,000 signatures were valid out of the 106,000 turned in to the city.

The city now has 3 options available:

1. Repeal the ordinance.
2. Call for a special election on March 2, 2004, with the ordinance added as a referendum vote to be voted on by the voters of the city.  According to the city, this option will cost the city an estimated $2,800,000.
3. Submit the ordinance to a referendum vote at the next regular City election, which is scheduled for March 8, 2005.

Clubs Fight Back With Referendum
October 2, 2003

With the city passing the so called anti-lap dance ordinance, the Los Angeles strip clubs have come back swinging at the city.  The strip clubs have pooled their money to sponsor a referendum to have the voters decide if this ordinance is a good idea or not.  In order to do so, the strip clubs must collect over 57,000 signatures on a petition before October 25, 2003.

To meet their deadline, the sponsoring clubs are asking everyone to go to their favorite Los Angeles strip club, and sign the petition.  To qualify, the signer must be 18 years old or older, be a United States citizen, reside in the City of Los Angeles, and a registered voter.  If the signers are not currently a registered voter, they can register to vote at the location.  The clubs will have the proper paperwork necessary for them to register to vote.  The clubs are requesting that everyone bring their friends, co-workers and anybody else they can drag to sign the petition.  However, they caution not sign the petition more than once at multiple locations or your entry will be invalidated.

Anti-Lap Ordinance Sent Back To Committee
June 18, 2003

The LA City Council today voted to send the Anti-Lap dancing ordinance back to committee because "of some holes", as described by AndyE from Private Dancer Monthly, who is also a regular contributor on zbone.me. "This buys us a little more time," said AndyE.

Some of the council members seemed to be concerned about the enforcement of the 6 foot provision which requires that the dancer be at least 6 foot away from the patrons.  One observer noted that this part of the ordinance should be the easiest to enforce compared to some of the other sections.

The ordinance being sent back to be "revised" is good news and bad news for the industry.  This action will slightly delay the actual vote by the council until the new revised version is ready.  However, the new version may be better written, which would make challenging it in court more difficult.

Anti-Ordinance Rally Held
June 17, 2003

The Score in downtown Los Angeles hosted a rally to protest the proposed anti-lap dance ordinance by the LA City Council today to show the LA City Council that there are people against the proposed ordinance.

The rally was attended by strip club owners, managers, employees, dancers, customers and media representatives. Pictured above are the protesters carrying signs equating the LA City Council to the Taliban and Iraqi governments.

Also attending and giving interviews to the media was First Amendment attorney, Roger Diamond (pictured here). According to Diamond, the City Council will be voting on the proposed ordinance on Wednesday, June 18 at the John Ferraro Council Chamber, Room 340, City Hall starting at 10am. If the ordinance is passed by the Council, it would then go to Mayor Hahn who must sign off on the ordinance.  The ordinance will then go into effect 31 days after that action.

Diamond listed some of the items contained in this new ordinance, which includes a requirement for the dancer to be at least 6 feet away from the patron, not accepting tips, no contact with patrons, a 30 inch high railing separating the dancer and the patron, no VIP rooms, and yearly renewal of permits for the strip clubs.

Diamond also noted that similar ordinances are already in effect in other cities, or have been challenged.  Diamond cited the Anaheim ordinance as an example since he was the attorney that defended the clubs and dancers in that case.  Anaheim's ordinance was struck down by a higher court.  However, according to Diamond, the ordinance is "still on the books" and not enforced. A similar ordinance is in effect in Newport Beach, which apparently has kept any clubs from opening there. A club owner not affected by this ordinance was reminded by Diamond that it's very likely that other cities will follow LA's lead if this ordinance works in their favor.

According to Diamond, if the ordinance is passed, he will file an injunction to keep it from going into effect until it is challenged in court.  If this technique works, this may delay the ordinance from actually being implemented for a few years. One strip club owner, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that if the ordinance were to go into effect, he would be forced to break the law in order to stay in business. 

Also at the rally was KLSX FM 97.1 radio personalities Conway and Steckler who was recording their radio show at the Score for later broadcast during their regular programming time on the radio station. They interviewed several of the club owners, dancers and other interested individuals regarding this issue. Joining Conway and Steckler was John from the John and Jeff show from the same station.

One dancer being interviewed by Conway claimed that if the ordinance were to go into effect, she would be forced to go on welfare along with her children. Conway seemed to be particularly concerned for this dancer. Perhaps he could take her in, if this were to occur.