Councilman Defends Efforts to Stem Prostitution

* The Times has made factual misstatements and misleading comments in addition to missing the point of my efforts to deal with complaints about prostitution believed occurring in motels on Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys.

First, contrary to The Times’ suggestion, I do not intend to pursue indiscriminate proceedings against 11 motels along Sepulveda Boulevard. I am not, to use the newspaper’s words, on a “fishing expedition.”

Instead, I have done what my constituents consistently tell me they expect me to do. I have responded directly to multiple complaints about criminal activity (in this case, prostitution) believed to be occurring in the community by seeking to use the city’s resources to determine if such activity is occurring and, if it is, to abate it through well-established zoning practices.

After many months of constituent complaints about prostitution in and around several motels on Sepulveda Boulevard, I asked the zoning administrator to review the motels in that immediate vicinity to see if there were any conditions on their operation which were being violated or any required mitigation steps not being taken. (Though I did not see the list submitted to the zoning administrator, I was well aware of the problem and asked my staff to follow through). It is this process which will determine whether the community’s complaints can be resolved through zoning actions.

Nearly 350 crime reports from the Police Department’s Van Nuys station were submitted with my request, so the evidence indicated that a problem exists. In a few cases, the number of reported crimes was quite low; however, crime statistics offer only one view of a business’s operation, and revocation actions can be undertaken because of impermissible activity--such as the violation of a conditional-use permit or zoning variance conditions--which may not be the subject of a police report.

Though I am certainly not seeking to take action against responsible business operators, the fact is that there is no way to determine which are the responsible ones and which are allowing prostitution, unless the practices of each are reviewed.

The people of Los Angeles expect their elected officials to respond when neighborhoods are besieged by crime. They expect city government to extend a helping hand, and not turn a deaf ear, when complaints about neighborhood deterioration are made. I plan to continue helping them pursue it.

MARVIN BRAUDE

Los Angeles

Braude represents the 11th District on the Los Angeles City Council.