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Articles
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| Racy fliers in Southwest cause fury |
VOICE writes, "BY BEN WEINSTEIN
Southwest residents who have complained that fliers featuring scantily clad women were being left on car windshields and scattered on streets may have reason to rejoice: An event organizer has agreed to curb the problem.
Owners of Bazz & Crue Events Hall, a club in Forestville, Md., agreed to end their promotional relationship with MetroMac, a flier-distribution company, after the District Office of the Attorney General filed a complaint against the owners earlier this year.
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The agreement went into effect about two weeks ago, but officials said enough time has not passed to determine its effectiveness.
Residents have described the fliers that advertise exotic dancers as obscene and even pornographic, but the city’s complaint, filed in February in the D.C. Superior Court, alleged that the defendants have created a public nuisance by causing litter in the area.
Ward 6 D.C. Council member Tommy Wells, who encouraged the attorney general’s office to pursue the case, suggested the city attack the problem of litter, not the content of the fliers, according to Wells’ chief of staff Charles Allen.
A news release from Wells’ office called the preliminary agreement with the club owners a “partial victory for Southwest residents against pornographic promotional fliers and cards that litter streets and sidewalks in this neighborhood.” But while the attorney general’s office complaint against the club mentions the content of the fliers, its focus is on District litter laws.
Alan Heymann, spokesperson for interim attorney general Peter Nickles, said residents mainly complained about the litter and public nuisance created by the fliers, not the content, which would be more difficult to prosecute because of First Amendment speech protections.
In Southwest, MetroMac focused its distribution on Water Street and Maine Avenue near late-night hotspots on the Southwest Waterfront.
An investigator with the D.C. Department of Public Works spent a January weekend observing flier distribution in the waterfront area.
People put fliers on cars parked around the waterfront, according to the investigator’s report, which says distribution increased dramatically around 3 a.m., when “numerous individuals” offered fliers to patrons who were leaving the H2O Restaurant & Lounge. The investigator reported that many of those patrons dropped the fliers onto the ground.
While the report is unclear on the origin of all the fliers, the investigator said many were from Bazz & Crue Events Hall. They featured images of “scantily clad” women, or “fresh, exotics live,” and advertised events such as: “let me see it” on Mondays and Wednesdays; “take it off” on Thursdays; “party & after parties” on Fridays and Saturdays; and “lights down low party” on Sundays, according to the report.
The city’s complaint says that the fliers litter Southwest streets, get stuck to windshields when it rains and sometimes blow into the Washington Channel, inconveniencing and overly burdening residents. The attorney general’s office said a few residents have invested many weekends cleaning up the fliers.
Though the complaint alleges that the defendants have failed to take reasonable measures to limit the public burden, Heymann said the preliminary agreement reached earlier this month addressed that charge. The agreement also prohibits the club from distributing fliers citywide, not just in Southwest.
Heymann said the case is ongoing and that other distributors could be included in the complaint. He said it has been difficult to track down all the responsible parties, including the owner of MetroMac and other nightclubs.
“While there is more to be done, I’m thrilled to win the first battle in putting an end to these pornographic fliers that are left on cars, dumped on sidewalks, and otherwise strewn around the nightclubs in Southwest D.C.,” Wells said in a release.
The case is scheduled for a status conference in D.C. Superior Court on May 23.
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Posted on Apr 25, 2008 19:52pm.
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