Council Moves Meeting From Men-Only Club

Three minutes before the legal deadline, the Los Angeles City Council on Monday switched the location for today’s session in San Pedro, fearing that apparent sexism at the private club where it was scheduled would keep lawmakers away and prevent the council from having a quorum.

The 11th-hour decision turned a gesture of outreach to the far-flung Harbor district into a political embarrassment for Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., who has belonged to the Dalmatian-American Club since 1978, served as its president from 1989 to 1991, and selected its auditorium as the site for the session.

“What was essentially a good idea, to have public meetings in communities throughout the city, has been soured by a series of decisions that are questionable at best, unacceptable at worst,” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, one of several members who threatened to boycott the meeting if it wasn’t moved, and now plans to skip the $15-a-head, post-meeting luncheon at the club.

The 10 a.m. meeting is now scheduled for the Port Plaza, a city building, and Council President John Ferraro plans to introduce a motion requiring that all council meetings be held in public places.

Founded about 70 years ago, the club has about 650 members, most of whom hail from Dalmatia on the Adriatic Coast in the Republic of Croatia.

To retain its liquor license, the club recently revised its bylaws to prohibit discrimination based on race or gender--women had previously been relegated to auxiliary member status, unable to vote or share in club assets. But the regular membership remains all male, and the auxiliary entirely female, club President Bill Brownell said Monday.

“No woman has ever applied for the regular membership, that’s the bottom line,” he said. “If someone would, we’re more than happy to take somebody.”

But Asja Nizetich Maurer, whose father was a San Pedro fisherman and longtime club member, said that when she tried to join a few months back she was told full membership was for men only. A male club member who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed Monday that is the unwritten rule and the reality.

“Women are afraid to join because they’d get ostracized in the community,” he said. “It’s a standing rule. It’s a custom. It’s a cultural thing.”

Svorinich said he was disappointed about the political wrangling and concerned that the last-minute change might confuse constituents, but happy that the council would visit the Harbor district for the first time since 1987.

“I’m upset about this whole process, the discourteous way in which it was handled,” he said Monday. “But that didn’t surprise me. The council isn’t very courteous to one another. On some occasions, it borders on outright rudeness.”

Meanwhile, Ken Byers, chief counsel of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control agency, said the club could lose its liquor license if it is found to discriminate against women, even if the bylaws cite equal access.

To test the policy, Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg has filled out an application for club membership and asked Svorinich to sponsor her. Svorinich said Monday that he would gladly do so.

But for now, at least half the council plans to boycott the luncheon that Svorinich is hosting at the club.

“How can you have a club in the 1990s that doesn’t allow women to be full members? It’s ridiculous,” Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said.