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Thread: I'm PISSED at my city council

  1. #1
    Featured Member Lola Lee's Avatar
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    Angry I'm PISSED at my city council

    Scottsdale toughens rules for adult businesses despite protests

    Jenna Jameson, others say Scottsdale proposals unfair

    Lesley Wright
    The Arizona Republic
    Dec. 13, 2005 12:00 AM

    The Scottsdale City Council on Monday voted unanimously to toughen the city's ordinance on sexually oriented businesses despite the pleas from dozens of speakers.

    The council agreed to drop a proposed ban on alcohol but approved many changes to ordinances that nightclub owners said were unacceptable and could put them out of business.

    Adult-film star Jenna Jameson drew a lively crowd of more than 200 people to City Hall, many who were upset by the late decision.

    "We'll have a big surprise for them. We're going to get them," First Amendment attorney Dick Hertzberg said. He represents Jameson, who recently bought Babe's Cabaret.

    During the meeting, the owners of Scottsdale's two strip clubs had called the proposed rules oppressive. One of the new rules would require a 4-foot barrier between dancers and customers.

    Hertzberg had told the council their decision could effectively give the clubs a 'Put us out of business' card."

    "Why don't you give (Jameson) a chance?" he said. "Let her run her business for a few months and see how it goes. What's wrong with fairness?"

    Also appearing at the podium was Scott Bergthold, the attorney whom Jameson dubbed "a hired gun for the Christian right." Bergthold helped Scottsdale draft its new law.

    Bergthold told the council that the current law gives them the right to regulate the strip clubs because of "secondary effects" such as prostitution and the spread of diseases.

    The vast majority of the dozens of speakers urged the council to uphold the rights of the strip clubs. Even the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce defended the city's entrepreneurs from onerous restrictions.

    John Miller, owner of Papago Brewing Company, said council members were blurring the separation of church and state and chided them for subjecting tax dollars to the risk of lengthy legal challenges.

    "I spent 20 years fighting to uphold our Constitution," said Miller, who was in the Coast Guard. "I'm not going to stop when the fight is in our own back yard."



    Scottsdale already has one of the most restrictive ordinances in the state, Hertzberg said.

    Scottsdale leaders have been edgy about their formerly low-profile adult nightclubs since August. Jameson bought Babe's Cabaret at 2011 N. Scottsdale Road and announced that she would renovate it into a top-flight adult nightclub called Club Jenna.

    At the same time, city attorneys hauled out the sexually oriented businesses ordinance to prepare it for revisions made necessary by recent legal rulings.

    The City Council hired Bergthold, an attorney aligned with the Christian-based Alliance Defense Fund, who has earned his notoriety for beating back adult businesses around the nation.

    "From that point, the process took on a life of its own and began to run amok," said John Weston, attorney for Skin Cabaret at 1137 N. Scottsdale Road.

    Weston, who has been defending adult businesses for 25 years, said the proposals could be the subject of litigation for years.

    Bergthold drafted a list of options for the council that included a ban on alcohol. Although the council did not approve the alcohol ban, it did approve a new definition of "seminude," which limits how much skin dancers can show.

    The proposal called for no grandfathering provisions, instead specifying that when licenses came up for renewal, they would be outlawed.

    Jameson has been waiting months for the city to comment on her application to transfer the Babe's liquor license and send the issue to the state licensing board. The city has indefinitely delayed that decision while checking the background investigations of Jameson's club partners, who include Steven Hirsch, chief executive officer of Los Angeles-based Vivid Entertainment. Adult-film producer Frank Koretsky is also a partner.

    Todd Borowsky, who owns Skin Cabaret, said he feels blindsided by the issue ever since Jameson opened the club.

    The club owner said he was angry that Scottsdale, which works closely with businesses when re-drafting regulations, shut him and Weston out of the process.




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  2. #2
    Featured Member Lyssa Lynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: I'm PISSED at my city council

    The whole thing really does suck! It's been awhile since I've visited a club in Snottsdale, but from what I remember it was extremly low contact, kids play compared to other clubs in the surrounding areas. Well on the bright side there are plenty of other places to work. Hope it works out for you!

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    Veteran Member TarynJolie's Avatar
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    Default Re: I'm PISSED at my city council

    Sadly , I have been hearing similar stories for 5 years now.

    I often wonder if these things were left up to a public vote rather than city officials if the outcomes would differ. Considering the amount of profit that the adult industry brings in each year it is quite obvious that the general public thinks adult entertainment is far more acceptable of business than their elected officials

    I am often bothered by the lack of representation of the actual will of the people on all levels of government. Apparently Scottsdale is yet another such example.

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    Veteran Member kittykat1971's Avatar
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    Default Re: I'm PISSED at my city council

    Perfect timing. I just moved from Scottsdale, to Portland, where I hear they now allow live sex shows. Go figure...

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    God/dess doc-catfish's Avatar
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    Default Re: I'm PISSED at my city council

    Quote Originally Posted by TarynJolie
    I often wonder if these things were left up to a public vote rather than city officials if the outcomes would differ. Considering the amount of profit that the adult industry brings in each year it is quite obvious that the general public thinks adult entertainment is far more acceptable of business than their elected officials.
    The funny thing is that I never see club onwers try to take their argument to the public to show what a red herring "negative secondary effects" is. All I see is some suit lawyer waxing poetic about our First Amendment rights or some token dancer who will testify before the city council that she's going to lose her job and that she and her three kids will have to go on welfare. That's not going to cut it folks.

    Most of the club owners just seem more content with fighting the ordinance through the court system and getting a grandfather clause or loophole where they can, and hope regular payoffs to the police keep enforcement at bay.
    Former SCJ now in rehab.

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    God/dess Deogol's Avatar
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    Default Re: I'm PISSED at my city council

    Quote Originally Posted by doc-catfish
    The funny thing is that I never see club onwers try to take their argument to the public to show what a red herring "negative secondary effects" is. All I see is some suit lawyer waxing poetic about our First Amendment rights or some token dancer who will testify before the city council that she's going to lose her job and that she and her three kids will have to go on welfare. That's not going to cut it folks.

    Most of the club owners just seem more content with fighting the ordinance through the court system and getting a grandfather clause or loophole where they can, and hope regular payoffs to the police keep enforcement at bay.
    Thank you - I said much the same on another thread. You want to get the council's attention - start drafting up recall petitions. Start setting up protests. Start dropping fliers in the hands of customers telling them what they can do.

    But most everyone in the stripclub scene hide in the shadows. When Sunnyvale was contemplating changes I didn't hide in the shadows. I wrote letters and made an appearance at city hall BEFORE the council meeting dropping hints this was going to be a problem. What happened - they dropped it from the meeting agenda and has yet to be seen. Ah - the things you will do for your friends...

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    God/dess Bridgette's Avatar
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    Default Re: I'm PISSED at my city council

    Quote Originally Posted by Lyssa Lynn
    Well on the bright side there are plenty of other places to work.
    Yeah, even further overcrowding the other clubs in the area


    Quote Originally Posted by TarynJolie
    I am often bothered by the lack of representation of the actual will of the people on all levels of government. Apparently Scottsdale is yet another such example.
    Really. Isn't that what got this country started anyway?

    Quote Originally Posted by pheno View Post
    When you lead a nontraditional life don't try to measure it with traditional milestones.

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    Veteran Member laplover69's Avatar
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    Default Re: I'm PISSED at my city council

    That fascist moral taliban idiot Scott Bergthold aka (Community Defense Counsel) and former Scottsdale resident deserves a good hard gang rape from AIDS infested gals! He is nothing but a ruthless attorney who makes half his $$ at TAXPAYERS expense by adopting UNconstitutional ordinances, then the other half defending them. You would think city councils would have the insight to know of the end costs to taxpayers and $$$ disbursed to Bergthold are clearly not warranted when a MAJORITY of people in most cities could give a flying fuck about his proposed ordinances and perceived negative "secondary effects" studies that are outdated and totally irrelevant to the cities they are adopting the ordinances on. And by the way Bergthold, most judges do need EVIDENCE to support your often "bogus" THEORIES of the negative "secondary effects" to pass constitutional muster aka Missouri.

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