Supervisors' Hearing on Porn Fees Postponed Until August 22

LOS ANGELES—Several adult industry veterans turned out for the LA County Board of Supervisors' meeting this morning to hear the proposed Measure B shooting permit and inspection fees discussed, but the group was disappointed, as the Board secretary announced that at the request of County Director of Public Health Dr. Barbara Ferrer, discussion of the fees would be postponed for four weeks, until August 22. The county was supposed to begin implementing the fee structure on August 1, although the settlement between the county, Vivid Entertainment Group and AIDS Healthcare Foundation prohibits any of the requirements of Measure B from being enforced until March of 2019. Present for today's meeting, though, were Jessica Drake, Brad Armstrong and David Lord, all from Wicked Pictures, the condom-only company responsible for obtaining most if not all of the adult filming permits in the county over the past few years; performers/activists Mia Li and Riley Reyes; and Siouxsie Q, Director of Policy and Industry Relations, and Ian O'Brien, Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, for Free Speech Coalition. Following the announcement of the fee discussion postponement, the Coalition issued a statement on the subject, "FSC Applauds LA Board of Supervisor’s Decision to Move Hearing on Permit Fees." "We applaud the Board of Supervisors decision to move the proposed public hearing regarding a vote on permit fees to the August meeting," the statement reads. "Despite our attempt to engage the Department of Public Health over the upcoming permitting months ago, the industry and its workers were given no opportunity to give feedback over the proposed permit fees, inspections or structure. In fact, we were not made aware until the agenda was released last week that these items would even be considered. Time and time again, we’ve seen that AHF-backed policies systematically exclude the very workers it would affect from the discussion. This has to stop. "On Monday, FSC sent the following letter to the Board of Supervisors, expressing our concern and frustration over the clandestine nature of this process. Public health policy should not be considered in secret, nor should stakeholders be blocked from participating. Thanks to the letter, and the numerous phone calls and emails from performers, the Board moved this important vote to better allow performers, producers, agencies and health experts to be heard. "We thank all industry members that reacted to our Action Alert and were present at the meeting, ready to give comment."