Finally! Voters in Los Angeles County passed a business-throttling measure that I won’t complain about.
I normally rail about regulations and taxes that are heaped on businesses here. But I won’t whine about Measure B, which got 56 percent approval from voters last week.
Measure B requires performers in porn videos to use condoms. And several people in that industry immediately wailed that it might drive the industry out of town.
For example, executives of L.A.’s Vivid Entertainment, the biggest adult filmmaker, have gone around saying they’ll film outside the county, perhaps in Las Vegas. Others have opined that, over time, the whole industry will move out.
Well, boo hoo. C’mon, it’s the porn industry. What can you say, except bon voyage. Sayonara. Adios. Use any language you want, just get outta here. I mean, we’re Los Angeles. We’re used to seeing businesses leave. Doesn’t hurt our feelings.
I understand the counterargument. Los Angeles can’t exactly afford to casually push out any more employers, and from a strictly business standpoint, porn is a fairly sizable industry, especially in the San Fernando Valley. While there are only a few hundred on-screen performers, industry supporters claim that about 10,000 or more local people make a living from porn.
That’s a fair amount. For comparison’s sake, the state’s Employment Development Department says almost as many people work in newspapers and various other publishing companies in the county. I’m not making any editorial comment here; I’m just comparing the porn industry with the newspaper and publishing industry. OK, let’s move on.
You’ve heard the jokes about the Porn Fernando Valley and all that. If Measure B really does push out the industry, maybe the San Fernando Valley over time will lose its nickname of “America’s Porn Capital.” I wouldn’t be particularly fond of a new nickname like “America’s Former Porn Capital.” I much prefer to see the Valley’s nickname be something we can all be proud of, like “America’s Former Aerospace Manufacturing Capital.”
By the way, and just for the record, I voted against Measure B. I really don’t care what other people do in the privacy of their own film studio. And it struck me as one of those feel-good measures that’ll only create another expensive bureaucracy and end up doing little tangible good while giving government another excuse to invade everyone’s privacy. Next thing you know, they’ll be legislating our bedroom activity. OK, bad example.
It’s funny, but the adult film industry is most upset by the new requirement about condoms. They don’t realize Measure B has a far more insidious requirement: They must get a permit.
The county is not as bad as the city of Los Angeles, true, but getting a permit from any local government here can involve a wait of biblical proportions. Some people are wondering why it’s taken five years – so far – just to widen the 405 Freeway. But many of those still waiting in line to get their business permits aren’t even aware that the 405 project has gotten started.
What’s more, the new law requires that they get on-site inspections from county officials. (Here’s a question: Would you like to be the county worker who has to explain this new duty to your spouse?) Just wait until the county folks start banning certain devices, measuring bed heights so no one’s back is strained, that kind of thing. You never know. Maybe state Sen. Kevin de Leon will show up to make sure they’re using fitted sheets.
Yes, the porn industry might be pretty big here, and even kind of powerful in its own way. But the industry is up against an expert; Los Angeles could patent the process for nudging businesses out of town.
And for once, I wouldn’t complain.
Charles Crumpley is editor of the Business Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].
