Dear Community,

Apologies for the short notice, but this is to let you know that there is another Police Permit hearing on the Strip Club issue on Wednesday this week, at 2:30pm at Parker Center downtown.

Last month’s nail-biting hearing resulted in a shocking outcome — it took several minutes before any of the Police Permit Review Panel were able to finally make a “reluctant” motion to grant the permit, and then another full minute of silence before the Chair realized that there was no second to that motion. It appears the panel are very reluctant to rubber stamp approval given all the pressure we have raised, and all the questions we have asked.

Our hope is that the panel are finally beginning to understand what we have been arguing all along: that the permittee, Mr. Woo Suk Yang, might just be a straw man standing in for his son, Stanley Yang, who runs the troublesome club Silver Reign in West LA.

Because Stanley Yang and his partners are currently facing a Red Light Abatement by the City of Los Angeles for “running a brothel disguised as a dance club”, it might have been difficult for them to obtain a new permit to start a new operation in our neighborhood. And with the possibility of losing Silver Reign hanging in the air, they definitely needed to start a new operation. And so, the SKIN club police permit application was made in the name of Stanley’s father, Woo Suk Yang, who doesn’t have a history in the strip club business, and is therefore a clean slate. This is the theory we are arguing.

Because of these significant questions about ownership, the panel have now subpoenaed Woo Suk Yang, the father, to appear before them to answer some questions directly. As you may know, Mr. Yang has always been represented by his attorney Roger Jon Diamond until this point, and this will be the first time we hear from, or see him, directly. If he comes.

So, as always, those of you who are available are invited to join us at Parker Center downtown for the hearing. Details below.

Police Permit Review Panel Hearing
Wednesday 19th November
2:30pm
Parker Center
150 N. Los Angeles Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

If you are interested in attending, and need a parking spot, please email the following information to victor.durazo@lacity.org no later than Tuesday 11/18.

Subject: Strip Club Hearing 11/19, 2:30pm

Name of Driver
Type of Car
Year and Color of Car
License Plate Number

The City Hall Parking is at 201 N. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles 90012. Entrance is across the street from Parker Center.

Thank you for your continued messages of support and all of you who have approached us at community events this last month. We’ll let you know what happens.

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Dear Community,

It’s been a while since we updated here on the website, but from your emails, calls and face-to-face meetings at neighborhood events, we know that this topic is still one that generates strong feelings and determined resolve on your parts.

As those of you who have reached out to us know, our efforts continue and we know that your vigilance continues also.

What follows is a long and comprehensive post bringing everyone up to speed:

It’s now been almost one year since our community began this fight. And despite early predictions from the club’s representatives, our opposition hasn’t blown over or been forgotten.

The overwhelming sentiment we are hearing expressed time and time again is that people feel that their reasonable requests for restrictions on the club’s operating permit should be heeded. There is enormous concern that the findings of the Hearing Examiner’s report be upheld.

Among suggested restrictions, those that we hear time and time again as being most important to you are:

1. That hours of operation should be restricted from 7pm to 12am on weekdays and from 4pm to 1am on Saturdays and Sundays
2. That there be NO SIGN on the property indicating the Club usage (suggestions of a small, brass plaque by the door have been made)
3. That the minimum age for a patron be raised to 19
4. That the SKIN Club police the surround area each morning to remove condoms and other paraphenelia
5. That the SKIN Club hire a bonded, licensed, independent private security firm to provide regular security patrol of the area during business hours and up to 1 hour after the club closes
6. That the Club engage in active dialogue between the owners and community leaders

We continue to advocate for these reasonable requests, and want you to know that your voices are being heard.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Below are some answers to your most frequently asked questions:

What happens now?

On Wednesday October 15th, there will be a further hearing on this matter in front of the Police Permit Review Panel.

The hearing will be held downtown at Parker Center, as before, and begins at 2:30pm. Parker Center is located at 150 N. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles 90012.

If you are interested in attending, and need a parking spot, please email the following information to victor.durazo@lacity.org no later than Tuesday 10/14 at Noon.

Subject: Strip Club Hearing
Name of driver
Type of car
Year and color of car
License plate #

The City Hall Parking is at 201 N. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles 90012. Entrance is across the street from Parker Center.

What is this hearing about?

As posted below, the Police Permit Review Panel recommended at the last hearing that the Hearing Examiner, Mr. Mac Neil, should conduct an additional hearing into the specific concerns about crime and ownership that were raised by the community attorney, Mr. Pat Harris.

A small group of community leaders and our attorneys attended this additional hearing, and spoke on the community’s behalf. Complete details of the hearing can be found in Mr. Mac Neil’s second report. You can download that report here.

As you will see, Mr. Mac Neil agrees that there are significant questions about ownership and has recommended that the club’s owner, Mr. Woo Suk Yang, present himself in front of the panel on October 15th to answer questions.

We continue to be hopeful that we may eventually actually see or hear from the owner of this business, although to date the club has only ever been represented by his attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, and by his son, Stanley Yang (owner of Silver Reign on the WestSide) who attended the Hamilton Hearing.

What seems to be the issue? Is the panel asleep at the wheel?

This is a question we are hearing time and time again. We share your concerns, and find ourselves equally amazed that the Panel has not yet acted in accordance with the recommendations of the Hearing Examiner they themselves have appointed to hear the case and make recommendations. Our concerns have been well documented and supported, and we know that the club continues to have a history of behaving with a “selective” approach to city codes and rules.

We wish we had a better answer to this question, and remain hopeful that the Panel and the City Attorney will do the right thing in this case.

Has the club been breaking rules?

• In July, many of you called and emailed about the giant illuminated moving billboard advertisement that the club has been using, particularly when it was parked in front of the club at Earl Scheib, clearly circumnavigating city codes that require permitting for temporary signage, and causing significant additional distraction to drivers at a DANGEROUS intersection.

Thanks to your vigilance and efforts and a concerted writing campaign to Earl Scheib, we were able to ensure that the billboard is no longer parking in front of the club.

• Also in July, we heard from a number of you that the club was illegaly housing staff in a building they lease on Ellis Avenue (to the rear of the club.) Upon checking City records, we were able to verify that the certificate of occupancy for this building did not allow any residential use. The club was cited by Building & Safety and ordered to stop all residential use and undo the un-permitted dwelling unit they had created on the second floor. We agree with you that a “dwelling unit” which can be accessed through the back door of the club without ever being seen is not a good idea for an all-nude establishment, particularly one which has close and questionable ties to other clubs where prostitution has been a repeated problem.

We thank the hundreds of vigilant eyes, ears and cameraphones that continue to watch the club and inform us of their activities.

• The neighbors immediately surrounding the club in Regent Square continue to regularly complain about finding used condoms and other adult materials on their sidewalks. Several reports have been made to Pacific Police Division, and we continue to monitor these incidents closely.

Neighbors tell us that they have found three times as many used condoms in the last year than in the 10 years prior to the club’s opening. Why should these residents pay the price?

• Female employees who work at some of the businesses on Ellis Avenue behind the club have complained of being sexually harassed by club patrons on their way to and from their cars.

In one incident, a woman and her young daughter were the recipients of this unwelcome attention. Needless to say this is also of serious concern to us all.

So what happens next?

We attend the hearing on October 15th, and continue to put faith in the system which was created to protect and serve us.

BUT, we also acknowledge that this may be a long war, and although battles may be lost along the way, our proximity to the club and widespread level of continued concern makes us strong.

We’re not going away, and we’re not going to stop watching, listening, documenting and reporting.

With the economic downturn and impending recession, we’d be surprised if the club manages to stay in business over time, particularly with the poor reviews it receives online.

Can we picket the club?

Many of you have repeatedly raised the option of sustained, organized protests with Police protection outside the club.We know that many of the religious communities in our neighborhood have expressed interest in organizing their congregations for this purpose.

While this has not been our first choice of approach to date, it may become our strongest card moving forward. It’s hard to sustain a successful business in the face of such public protest.

Is there legal recourse open to us?

If we have reason to believe the the City of Los Angeles has not carried out its responsibilities as it should, this is always an option, and one that we continue to discuss with our attorneys.

Why are you so worried about this club and not all the other problems that we face?

We’re worried about those too. And we’re active in the community across the board. Many of us form part of your neighborhood council, and spend many hours volunteering on a monthly basis to address safety, crime, blight, “broken windows”, education, health, outreach and many other avenues of community concern. It’s not that we’re only concerned with this club, but we proudly admit that we tremendously concerned about our community, and that it should continue to grow and flourish in the best possible way. We feel this club poses a threat to that goal, and our collective efforts are a measure of the commitment we have all made to be proactive in our communities.

What can I do? I’m not prepared to give up on this…

We hear you, and agree with you. Here’s the good news:

This election year has brought out a strong sense of community responsibility and engagement in people across the country. People feel activated and determined to write their own destinies, not accept status quo. As community activists, we feel this on a daily basis. And we encourage you to get involved. It’s very, very hard to continue to deny the power of a motivated and activated community who is not afraid to raise its voice, or fight for its sanctity.

Our community remains galvanized on this issue, like no issue before. From our collected efforts to date, untold new connections and partnerships have been formed between residents, business owners, parents, teachers and neighborhood groups and as a result, we are stronger than ever before.

If you’d like ideas for how you can become more involved on this issue, and others facing our community, please email us.

Thanks for reading to the end. As always, we look forward to hearing from you and seeing you speak out to protect the place that you call home.

Dear Community,

The Police Permit Review Board hearing has now been set for Wednesday April 30th at 2:30pm.

If you follow the news, you’ll know that Roger Jon Diamond is fresh off his defeat in the “Black Widows” murder trial. Now that the jury has spoken, we anticipate no further delays to the Strip Club hearing.

The Police Permit Review Board wants to hear YOUR VOICE. Despite the difficult date, time and location, we’re asking you to attend. We’ve been told that the panel places GREAT WEIGHT on the voices of the residents and community members.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Time: 2:30pm

Location:
Parker Center Auditorium
150 N. Los Angeles Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90012

To help make it easier, we’ve organized the following:

FREE BUS TRANSPORTATION:
LAUSD has offered us one bus, and the SORO Neighborhood Council has authorized funding for a second bus if we need it. Community leaders want you to attend.

If you are interested in taking the free bus, please email action@NoRobertsonStripClub.com with an indication of how many people in your party. In order to be able to accommodate everyone, we will need a clear headcount. We will post more information about how to get the bus in the coming days, so please check back. The bus will leave from the Hamilton High area.

FREE PARKING DOWNTOWN:
Councilmember Herb Wesson’s office is helping organize free parking at City Hall (across the street from Parker Center). If you’re interested in a parking spot, please email the following information to victor.durazo@lacity.org no later than Tuesday 4/29 at Noon.

Subject: Strip Club Hearing
Name of driver
Type of car
Year and color of car
License plate #

As you can imagine, trying to organize this is a logistical challenge, so we appreciate your help in committing to attend, and letting us know as soon as possible so we can make adequate provisions for everybody.

Bus seats and parking spots will be on a first-come-first-serve basis and we cannot guarantee that there will be a spot for you if you are not prompt or do not rsvp.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU CAN’T ATTEND:
Please write a passionate letter (even if you’ve written before) and let the Permit Review Panel that your absence from this hearing does not mean that you don’t care. Paint a picture for them of what the neighborhood means to you and your family, and why you object to the club. Help them feel what you feel. Let them know that even though you’re not there, your voice still counts.

You can fax your letters directly to us at 310-837-3325 and we will present them to the panel, or you can mail them directly to:

Police Permit Review Panel
Commission Investigations
150 N. Los Angeles Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

* We’re still experiencing some email problems, so we encourage you to bookmark this site and check back regularly. Our email updates may not be getting through to everyone.

We’ve just heard that the date has been set for the 7-member Police Permit Panel to rule on the operating permit for SKIN.

The hearing will take place on Wednesday 19th March at 2:30pm.

The hearing will be held downtown at Parker Center. Although it is during the work week, we strongly urge everyone to attend. It is vitally important that we’re there in force to continue to represent our position. Based on the turnout and extent of community opposition at the last hearing, the Police Commission have cleared the schedule of all other items that day, and moved the hearing to the Auditorium to accommodate 200-300 people. We expect a lot of media coverage and we need to turn out a crowd. We will have the opportunity to comment directly to the panel before they make their decision. Let’s not forget what impact we had the last time our community turned out.

The Hearing Examiner has made his report and recommended restrictions, but we can count on the fact that Roger Diamond will be fighting each one. At the January 28th Hearing, we all heard Diamond state that he expects the permit to be granted to his clients with no restrictions at all. We need to be there to show the panel that our community is not giving in.

We’ll be posting more information in the coming weeks. We’re working on arranging parking for the community downtown, setting up carpooling from the neighborhood and disseminating information about what the Hearing Examiner has recommended. As soon as we know more we’ll be posting it here.

In the meantime, please make note of the following information and share it widely with your friends and neighbors.

Police Permit Hearing
Wednesday 19 March, 2:30pm
Parker Center Auditorium
150 N. Los Angeles Street, 90012

And if you haven’t yet signed up for updates, please do that now. With the clock ticking on this fight, it’s important that we are able to reach you all as quickly as possible whenever there is news.

Dear Community Members,

The Police Permit Hearing is on Monday at 7pm at Hamilton High. These are our last few days to get the message out as widely as we can so that we represent in LARGE NUMBERS on Monday night.

Here’s what YOU can do to help:

1. Mark you calendars, clear your schedules, book your babysitters -or better yet- bring your kids. Whatever you need to do to, please BE THERE.

2. Tell your friends and neighbors. Send an email around. Knock on some doors. RALLY A CROWD

3. Help us get new YARD SIGNS out. We have about 75 more yard signs to distribute around the neighborhoods before Monday. If you have a half hour free and you’d like to help, please click on the email link to the right. We need all hands on deck to get these out there.

4. Help do a final push on FLYERS. We have plenty of them, and if you want to volunteer to walk a few more streets or distribute them at your local store, school, place of worship or book club, please use the link on the right to send us an email. We could really use the help.

5. Take a few minutes to think about what you want to say to the Hearing Examiner on Monday. If you’d like to speak, you’ll probably get 2 minutes, so think about what it is you want him to hear. Do you have a strong objection to the club? Do you want him to learn more about why this neighborhood means something to you? Do you have a specific concern you’d like to address? Have you seen or experienced anything since SKIN has been open that you feel he should know? Take a few moments to JOT DOWN YOUR THOUGHTS. It’ll come in handy on the night.

Thank you for your support, your donations, your helpful emails and your comments. Whether you agree with the club or disagree with the club, isn’t it good to know you live in a neighborhood where people care enough to do something? It sure feels good to me.

See you on Monday, and please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have a little time to volunteer. Trust me, it feels good to get involved.

“The location of a former meat market has re-opened as a strip club and neighbors don’t like it one bit. They’re up in arms over the club which is located on South Robertson, near the 10 Freeway. Jeff Michael was at the club’s opening night.”
Click here to watch
Click here to listen

A solid report from Fox News, although the reporter was mistaken about one key point: the Club has opened without materially addressing any of the community’s concerns.

WHEN: Tuesday, December 11th, 7pm
WHERE: Palms Westminster Fellowship Hall, 2908 Robertson Place, 90034

The No Robertson Strip Club Steering Committee is holding a Public Town Hall meeting next week to discuss our community’s effort against the Strip Club. We’ll be covering the core issues, the work we’ve done to date, and what we need to do moving forward.

Representatives from the Mayor’s office and the offices of Councilmen Wesson and Weiss will be there.

If you are concerned about the idea of having an all-nude (18+) club in your neighborhood–one located near Hamilton High School, in a place guaranteed to make a bad traffic situation worse, run by people we believe to have a history of prostitution arrests at their other clubs–then you need to come to this meeting. We understand the club is scheduled to open before the holidays.

The LAPD has now scheduled the special hearing for January 28th 2008 to let us voice our concerns before they issue a final permit to the club operators. It is unlikely that we can stop the club on zoning arguments. The strongest tool we have is our unified, collective voice. This issue is not going to be resolved in any other way, nor can it be done by proxy. If you have concerns about the Strip Club, then you need to participate. We are relying on your help to get the word out about this as widely as possible. Come to collect facts and materials that will help us spread the word.

If you can’t attend the meeting, please make a donation online. If you can attend the meeting, please bring your checkbook. The opposition is well organized, well represented and well funded. We need to be able to take them on. The Steering Committee has been working hard to gather official support, and lay infrastructure for our fight. Now it’s time for you to get involved and take part in your community.

Come learn more about what is happening on your doorstep.

We have designed 18″x24″ lawn signs to help get the word out about the strip club. They are weatherproof, and come with a wire frame so they can easily be displayed in front of your house.

Update: The signs are available now—look for them throughout the neighborhood. We will be giving a sign to all who make a donation to the cause. Please note in the donation comments field if you’d like a sign.

Parents and concerned citizens, a reminder to please WRITE to the Police Permit Review Panel Commissioners today! We’ve created three sample letters to get you started. Feel free to edit and personalize it to fit your situation.

The clock is ticking, and we need you to donate to our legal defense fund and to get involved today.

Use either the donation form at upper right of this page, or go here for instructions if you’d prefer to mail a check.

We also need volunteers to help organize the neighborhood response. If you are interested in helping out, please download the sign up form and fax to the number on the sheet.

Thanks!

We need YOU to send a letter to the Police Commissioner ASAP!

The purpose of the letter is to ask the L.A. Police Permit Review Panel to not issue the strip club a Cafe and Show Entertainment Permit.

This is a time sensitive issue. Act today! We need the L.A. Police Permit Review Panel to get your letters and/or petitions before the upcoming public hearing. They do not accept fax. It must be mailed or hand-delivered. IF YOU SEND A LETTER, the Police Commission will mail you a hearing notification when the date has been set.

Feel free to modify the sample letter to reflect your particular concerns—and be sure to urge your neighbors to do so, too!