LOS ANGELES — Voting has begun for more than 11,000 registered Los Angeles County military and overseas voters who have been sent absentee ballots to decide on the next president as well as for other political candidates and proposed new laws, including Measure B.
Measure B is the Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act that, if adopted in the general election in November, would require producers of adult films to obtain a Los Angeles County public health permit.
The proposal also requires adult film performers to use condoms while engaged in sex acts and forces producers to provide proof of blood borne pathogen training course
Permits and notices to performers would be mandated under the act, and those who violate the ordinance would be subject to civil fines and criminal charges.
Los Angeles County military and overseas voters were sent absentee ballots on Tuesday, a Los Angeles County Clerk spokeswoman told XBIZ. Residents located in Los Angeles will be mailed their sample ballot booklets starting Sept. 27.
Vote by mail returns for all Los Angeles County registered voters must be received by Oct. 30. The general election is Nov. 6.
James Lee, spokesman for the No on Government Waste Committee which is mounting a campaign to topple the measure, said on Wednesday that if passed the ballot measure's initial startup costs for the inspection and permitting program would come to more than $300,000 per year in administration, salary and benefits for county inspectors.
And with Film LA, the film-permitting arm for Los Angeles County, estimating less than 480 permits issued for all adult film shoots, the program could start losing money from its launch.
But Lee emphasized that the tangible loss for the adult entertainment biz would be jobs.
"The real impact is going to be felt in the flight of companies and jobs that leave this area because of this measure and the resulting losses in tax revenue and economic activity," Lee told XBIZ. "I think people will understand that in a county with 12 percent unemployment, shipping off 10,000 jobs is not a great move for the economy.”
Lee, whose Lee Strategy Group has been tapped to handle communications for the No on Government Waste Committee which was introduced by adult trade group Free Speech Coalition this week, acknowledged that the campaign to persuade voters against the measure will be tough.
"We are going up against a well-funded and well-known organization in AIDS Healthcare Foundation, but we feel strongly that voters are going to end up voting no on Measure B once they find out the costs associated with implementing its provisions, especially in terms of increased government costs that permitting fees won’t cover.
“Once they read the initiative, voters will also understand the burden it places on the county health system and the waste of government resources in sending county employees to monitor adult film set shoots for compliance.”
