ProgressOhio

The recent brouhaha over the "strip club law" follows closely on the heals of the smoking ban, the gambling ban and is being followed up with the ban on "skill games".

I've heard all the arguments for banning adult entertainment and forcing midnight closure and "no touch" provisions. Most notably, the contention that adult entertainment restrictions are needed to help law enforcement fight crime and to protect our families.

I must say, I doubt that the adult entertainment industry meets regularly to plot the demise of the Ohio family, or for that matter...to destroy Ohio. I also doubt that our law enforcement officers needed a ban on handshakes in clubs to help them lower crime in the streets. Where do we live? Ohioghan?

Don't get me wrong. I do not advocate what the CCV claims is "unregulated sexual activity" in adult business. That's their lie to the public. This industry welcomes fair regulation just like any other industry. What we do not support is the CCV wasting tax money and law enforcement resources to demean women and promote their "Ohioghan" agenda, which is strict conformity to their brand of morality.

I want to see Ohio become the strong state it once was in terms of job growth and economics...but is catering to the self-appointed promoters of censorship going to save us from high unemployment rates, polluted water, home mortgage foreclosures and this state's lack of growth?

Where is the CCV's next stop? This state has a lot of taverns. And unfortunately, we also have alcoholics in Ohio. Perhaps we should allow the CCV to ban alcohol in order to "save" the alcoholics...then we could ban prescription drugs in pharmacies because some people "look" like they could be prescription drug abusers. We could have the police arrest people for handshakes, prescriptions and alcohol...and ignore those nice people on the streets toting illegal handguns and terrorizing neighborhoods.

When the CCV decides to host their next agenda in our statehouse, whether it be a ban on birth control, a ban on gay adoption, a ban on Victoria's Secret or baggy pants...or a ban on any matter of personal taste you may have...we can blame oursleves for giving them the keys.

A Vote NO on Issue 1 is a VOTE to stop this madness.

It might surprise most of you that I am reading a book by Texas Preacher Joel Olsteen. In fact, he is my favorite preacher.

As I consider SB 16 and this signature gathering process, I can hear his words, "What you say in the midst of your difficulties will have great impact on how long you stay in those situations."

Sometimes you can't help feeling as if life (or gathering signatures) is spinning out of control. Moods nosedive, tempers flare...and you're not sure how you found yourself standing in a pile. The good news is that when things seem like they are freefalling into the abyss of failure its probably really a ditch!

Lately, I have been reading that we are failing in our signature gathering process and that SB 16 may not make the ballot after all...

Hmmm. I couldn't just sit in Naples. Seems I care more about Ohio and what happens here than I thought. I jumped in my car on a full moonlit 4am morning and drove the 18 hours or so to Columbus.

When it comes to improving the quality of our daily exisitence, is it really incumbent on a "no touch rule" to make our lives better? If we were reading about women in a foreign country getting arrested, jailed or fined for this...what would we think about the leaders who imposed such a ridiculous sanction?

When it comes to improving the quality of life in our daily existence, what matters is focusing attention on the changes we hope to make. My fight here is NOT necessarily for strippers or strip clubs. I don't dance anymore. I no longer own a club. I reside in a tranquil area of the world where the average forecast is 75 degrees and sunny...so...why would I take an unpaid leave from ACE to come here?

The people working hard to get this issue on the ballot represent why I wanted to be here. They see this as more than a stripper bill. It's a "stop wasting our legislature's time, our tax money and threatening our lawmakers and get on to real issues" stop cork.

No matter how one might personally believe with regard to strippers or adult material...democratic process in a Republic that is supposed to be run as a democracy should never be scrapped in favor of "selective bypass".

The signature gatherers got more than 20,000 signatures over the weekend. We have less than a week to make our ballot with valid signatures...it makes no sense for us to collect fraudulent signatures because we have to pay for every single one....knowing full well that each signature will be scrutinized or challlenged, it wastes our time, it wastes our money and it doesn't help us get on the ballot.

I know that American Idol and the antics of Paris Hilton are paramount current events (she says facetiously...damn, big word for me this late!), but I respectfully request that any registered voters who still care about democratic process, please sign the petition...www.votenoonissue1.com

Thank you.

The CCV's 'Community Defense Act' was passed this year. It is a law that prohibits touching within strip clubs.

Most people are inclined to indignantly respond: "So? There shouldn't be any touching in strip clubs! We all know what goes on in THOSE places!"

Hmmm. Really? Are you aware that the law punishes women for a handshake? Yes! It's true. A woman working in a club can conceivably go to jail for 30 days over a handshake. Is this the way we want to run our great state? Do we really want to take tax revenue away from our schools and law enforcement so we can make sure adults aren't shaking hands in a strip club? And I have a question: Who is going to enforce this law? Are we going to take officers off the streets so they can sit inside clubs to make sure a woman behaves the way the CCV thinks she should behave?

The CCV claims the law isn't designed to punish a woman or patron at an adult club...Oh, contraire! They know perfectly well that the law does indeed exercise a 'morality police provision' and for them to publicly claim otherwise is un-Christian-like conduct that violates the commandment of "Thou shalt not lie".

This law is designed to regulate adult entertainment into near extinction: no tipping, hours of operation restrictions etc. The bill was being carried to politicians the way a proud parent might take a newborn to the office. The Citizens for Community Values (CCV) showed up every where to coo over the bill and encouraged politicians to hold it close. If an Ohio politician didn't want to smile at the bill, some CCV members decided that these representatives might need "prayer warriors" shadowing them at public events to change their attitude. The CCV got their swadled passage of the law because they scared the hell into Ohio politicians with the threat that they'd run campaign ads for opponents or declare a politician: soft on pornography.

The CCV publicly claimed the usual--that our industry is responsible for every social ill that plagues this potentially great state--everything from blighted property to gambling, drug use, prostitution and affiliation with organized crime. Almost every politician was willing to jump into this tired foxhole of falseness and it got so crowded in there that the Buckeye Association of Club Executives (BACE) felt out gunned.

BACE and their lobbyists have battled the Goliath that is the CCV daily.

We have been engaged against the CCV for seven years over this stupid law, which by the way, was already passed last year as House Bill 23, a little fact the CCV keeps neglecting to mention to the public.

Two years ago, a reporter for one of the largest newspapers in Ohio wrote an objective feature piece about this yearly struggle and cited adult businesses economic impact on a state that sits 49th out of 50th in job growth and boasted an indicted governor as well as some pay to play politicians. The CCV President wasn't happy with this reporter.
It is alleged that she was reduced to tears by CCV President Phil Burress and the newspaper was threatened with a lawsuit for her stories, that he claimed tried to discredit the CCV.

Here are some of the positives about adult entertainment in Ohio that the CCV didn't want Ohioans to hear:

Ohio clubs generate over $250 million dollars into the Ohio economy. The average income of an Ohio dancer is approximately $44,000.00 per year which is above the national average of $38,000.

Ohio adult clubs create almost 20,000 jobs above minimum wage. 12,000 jobs are directly linked to adult clubs while the rest are comprised of attendant jobs such as accounting, babysitting, laundry services, distributors, delivery drivers, florists etc.

The state of Ohio directly receives over $50 million in liquor sales tax revenue per year from adult clubs.

Ohio clubs launched a nonpartisan voter registration drive in 2004 that registered almost 25,000 new voters. Perhaps that is what REALLY scares the CCV...the fact that we might be a threat to that important swing state vote, which would mean a serious loss of influence and power for their agenda...and Phil's almost $200,000 yearly income...and his property holdings in Hawaii and Florida...oh, and the incomes of both his wife and kids who also get paid by the CCV...its a family business.

Some senators began to question the need for the Community Defense Act because Ohio already has over 70 laws on its books that can be used to regulate adult entertainment. The CCV didn't appreciate a politician exercising circumspection. It might be dangerous. They expected politicians to simply take their word for it…or else!

One asked, "Could it be possible that adult entertainment is so popular because it might appeal to a healthy interest in normal adult recreation rather than an addiction to obscenity?"

Another senator defended the legislation based on all the studies he received from the CCV until Dr. Daniel Linz testified that most of those studies were unscientific and not peer reviewed. "I see," he would later comment. "It's like a doctor using someone else's X-ray to diagnose your own health," he shared with a colleague.

The publisher of the Cleveland Plain Dealer did not appreciate a fine reporter being threatened for doing her job. The paper wrote an OP ED piece that encouraged politicians to study exotic dance mores and customs on their own clock rather than the taxpayer's dime. And the Senate President seemed to agree a couple of years ago. Why the change of heart?


About one year ago, Senate leader Bill Harris stripped HB 23 from the Judiciary Committee and put it in his rules committee angering Christian activists, especially Phil Burress who argued the controls would curb crime and urban blight. During an intensive lobbying battle over the bill, Burress vowed in an e-mail to supporters to run ads and launch primary challenges against Republicans who voted to squash his "baby".

Harris said, "…I'm very possessive, being the president of the Senate, of my members," And when I feel my members are in the position of being challenged inappropriately, I want to make sure I stand up for them." He also claimed that he and at least two other senators were threatened by the CCV.

An angry Burress declined to comment on Harris' actions - accusing BACE lobbyist Neil Clark of sabotaging HB 23 and conspiring with the Plain Dealer reporter.

What did Clark do? He filed a complaint against Burress and the CCV with the Ohio Elections Commission and the Legislative Inspector General. Then a former Cincinnati mayor and a gay rights group followed his lead and filed a separate suit alleging that the CCV illegally concealed campaign contributions.

"We believe Cincinnatians and Ohioans deserve to know the truth about who is paying millions of dollars for ads to sway their votes," said Gary Wright, chairman of Equality Cincinnati and one of the parties filing the complaint. Ken Blackwell's office found no wrongdoing. Perhpas that's because many of the CCV supporters were also supporting him in office...seems like a serious conflict of interest to me.

Burress, one of the named defendants, said the complaint was baseless and politically motivated. The complaint says that of the $2.4 million raised and spent by the campaigns last year, only about $13,000 came from named donors. The rest came from nonprofit groups such as Citizens for Community Values. Nonprofits are allowed to give money to campaigns as long as they follow IRS guidelines. But those who sought to donate money on the Ohio Committee to Protect Marriage campaign Web site were directed to the site for the nonprofit Citizens for Community Values, the complaint said.

Burress quickly filed the paperwork to become a registered lobbyist who also happens to hold office over a very large tax-exempt nonprofit organization. He's banking that he'll win this referendum because it is a show he can carry on the road to a state near you...and I suspect it could be a great revenue stream for his pockets...

The battle will no doubt continue to rage in Ohio as the pulpit becomes the seat of politics here. What a shame. I certainly didn't want to be here. I think the whole fiasco is an insult to the people of Ohio and the adult entertainment industry is the target being used by the CCV because they beleieve Ohioans will buy it.

I smell a rat being covered by a ruse...Burress can't even decide exactly how he became addicted to porn. Over the years he has publicly told three or four different stories about how this "addiction" came to fruition. He also says that he is the proof of the harm a lady like me can do to him. Hmmm...if that is the case then perhaps we should close up all the bars and nightclubs because some people are alcoholics. Perhaps we should lock up all the pharmacies because some people become addicted to prescription drugs.

And my research showed that he had his divorce records sealed in Brown County...now that doesn't bother me so much in terms of his right to privacy, but what does bother me is that he wanted them sealed not because he was cheating on his wife with his current wife while in Christian marriage counseling...but because he wanted the records sealed with regard to CCV finances and expenses! Why?

Do we need the government to intervene in matters of personal taste that is safe, legal and consensual between adults? Whatever happened to the idea of personal responsibility?

I'm not opposed to regulation of this industry. I am opposed to unfair regulation that is being touted before Ohioans as a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. And let's say it does exist...then why in the world haven't the clubs committing all these supposed crimes been closed up under the 70 laws already written on Ohio's books to regulate them?

Like I said, I smell a rat...what we need is a return to some sensible government that seeks solutions to real problems like teacher salaries, unemployment, health care benefits, school funding, higher education and job growth.

I'm not here to change your mind about this industry or force you to see my point of view...In fact, I appreciate the feedback whether positive or negative from Ohioans because I might be missing something.