SIMI VALLEY : Rack Won’t Offer Explicit Magazine

The owner of a Simi Valley news rack where a sexually explicit publication was sold, sparking complaints among the city’s residents, has agreed to stop vending the material in Simi Valley, city officials said.

Diane Davis-Crompton, the city’s environmental services director, said city code enforcement officers identified the owner of the rack as a company called Dinosaur Enterprises.

She said a company representative told city officials that an adult-oriented magazine, Hollywood New Reality, had been placed in the rack by mistake and would not be sold in Simi Valley racks in the future.

City officials had placed a warning notice on the machine outside a shopping center on Los Angeles Avenue because the operator had failed to pay a city business tax. Davis-Crompton said the owner has pledged to pay the tax.

Among the residents who had complained about the rack was Steve Frank, a candidate for mayor. Frank publicly scolded the City Council for not removing the rack, but Mayor Greg Stratton said Simi Valley officials lacked the legal authority to do so.

Frank recently announced that he has sent a letter to Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) asking her to introduce legislation that would give the city more power to outlaw news rack sales of pornographic materials.