Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano testified Tuesday morning that EyeCandy Showgirls is operating illegally because it does not have a business license and it is violating the city’s operating procedures.
In the second week of the civil trial between the city of Chula Vista and EyeCandy Showgirls, Superior Court Judge Richard E.L. Strauss listened to Bejarano’s testimony about the effects a sex-oriented business can have in a community.
Bejarano said the city of Chula Vista modified an ordinance in November 2012 to protect residents from secondary effects from sexually oriented businesses.
Secondary effects include increase of crime, prosecution and narcotics-related activity and public nuisance, he said.
“Basically (secondary effects are) anything impacting the quality of life of any community,” Bejarano said.
In the 1980s, while working at the San Diego Police Department, Bejarano said he was in charge of the permitting of adult businesses in the city of San Diego.
EyeCandy attorney Roger Diamond questioned Berjarano about the permitting process for adult oriented businesses in Chula Vista.
Diamond asked Bejarano how the new Seven Mile Casino, formerly the Village Card Room, located near EyeCandy at 285 Bay Blvd., was able to obtain a business license and stay open 24 hours, but EyeCandy was not.
“This particular casino has been operating now I believe for about 40 years,” the police chief said.
“Our experience has been over many, many years that there’s been very little to no crime with this business. So we’ve had very little if any problems with any calls for service related to the operation of the casino/card room,” he said.
Diamond said the city of Chula Vista won’t issue EyeCandy a business license therefore it cannot conduct background checks on its dancers or employees.
“Would you agree that it would be in the best interest for Chula Vista to get the dancers and employees at EyeCandy to have criminal background checks?” Diamond asked Bejarano.
Bejarano agreed that it would be in the best interest of the community but that the business needed to meet the city’s licensing criteria in order for that to happen.
Deborah Fox, outside counsel for the city of Chula Vista, said the rules regulating sexually oriented businesses have been in place since 1979, but EyeCandy continues to ignore those rules.
“The rules of the game were already established,” she said. “EyeCandy just thinks they can break them.”
The case is expected to wrap up this week.
