Tustin to Fight Porn, Seize News Racks on City Land

Acting to curb the distribution of sexually explicit publications, the Tustin City Council has moved to confiscate 35 news racks on city property.

The council decided unanimously Monday that the racks will be impounded if not removed by their owners within in three days after receiving a notice from the city.

Most news racks in the city are on private property and thus will not be affected by the council’s policy. Only a few of the news racks on city property contain sexually explicit publications.

“We need to take swift action on this,” said Councilman John Kelly, asking the council to enforce a 1973 ordinance that bars obstructing city streets or alleys. Kelly said the city has failed to enforce the ordinance in recent years.

The council took the action in response to concerns over racks containing adult-oriented publications. Council members said the appearance of the publications on city property did not fit the image Tustin is trying to project.

“I think each of us on the City Council is committed to preserving a wholesome, positive life style,” Councilman Richard B. Edgar said. “The challenge is to preserve that life style.”

But the council did not agree on what to do with any racks seized on public property. Kelly urged the council to destroy them and the publications or send the racks “back to wherever they came from,” at the owners’ expense.

But Edgar and Councilman Ronald B. Hoesterey objected, with Hoesterey suggesting that the city auction any seized racks.

“We don’t know where all these newsstands came from,” Hoesterey said. “I don’t want to have to mail them across the country or up to San Francisco.”

The council had confiscated some racks containing sexually explicit publications last month, when Councilman Earl J. Prescott spotted them on 1st Street.

But City Atty. James G. Rourke had them returned after telling the council that a Supreme Court decision prohibits the removal of news racks on the basis of content.

Rourke said most of the racks on city property belong to The Times Orange County Edition, the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. He cautioned council members that the city would “not be well advised to start picking up stands and carting them off.”

A spokesman for The Times’ circulation department said just three of the paper’s 66 news racks in Tustin would be affected by the council’s action. However, the paper has asked to meet with city officials to discuss the policy.

“While it will have little effect on circulation, the problem you get into is that it sets a precedent,” said Al Brewer, street sales manager for The Times. “No matter if it is one rack or many, it is of the same importance.”

Brewer said The Times will try to work with city officials to reach a resolution that meets the needs of all parties.

Dick Wallace, general manager of the Orange County Register, said he did not think the move would have much impact on the newspaper’s circulation.

“Most of our racks are on private property, so we don’t anticipate any problems,” Wallace said.