Signal Tribune Newspaper

BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer

The Princess Inn on the 1800 block of Magnolia Avenue has long been a source of anxiety for people who live in the surrounding neighborhoods. For about a decade, local residents have called police and other Long Beach City Hall departments to complain about shady characters and illegal activities at the motel. Last week, Calvin “Ray” George, a Long Beach deputy prosecutor, explained some of the things the city is doing to shut down the facility.
George spoke at the October 16 meeting of the Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG). The meeting took place during the evening in the community center at 2023 Pacific Avenue. About 20 people attended.
George told the audience the city has launched an all-out effort to close the motel down, but the legal process for doing so is slow and cumbersome and subject to court challenges at almost every step. He noted that earlier in the month the motel owner was officially arraigned for operating a motel without a business license. “At the arraignment, I asked the defense attorney if he had a stay from a federal judge stating that the motel owners could not be prosecuted, and he said ‘No, but I will get it’,” George said. He explained that later that day, he met with the city attorney to decide on the city’s strategy for closing down the motel.

“They (the Long Beach Police Department) are going to literally go there every day and give him a ticket for being in business without a license,” George said. “Then we are going to fast track it so that every day he is getting a new case filed against him.”
The deputy prosecutor added that if the motel owner’s attorney does get a stay from the federal court, city officials will come back in two weeks with an order to make sure motel staff are handling the books properly.
At George’s recommendation, the Signal Tribune contacted the city attorney’s office to get more details about the motel.
“There was an administrative hearing handled by another attorney in our office last April,” said Randle Fudge, deputy city attorney. “At that time the motel’s business license was revoked.”
He explained that the motel owners were charged with engaging in practices not permitted under their business license. The violations included not maintaining accurate registration records and selling food items on the premises. “There were also allegations as to the cleanliness of the rooms and that criminal activity was being allowed to occur at that location.” he said. “That activity included drug sales and prostitution.”
Randall noted that in 2001 the Long Beach Police Department had 41 calls for service related to criminal activity at the Princess Inn and in 2006, there were 38 such calls for service.
The City of Long Beach revoked the Princess Inn’s business license on April 22, but the motel’s owners filed an appeal with U.S District Court in Los Angeles alleging that their fourth amendment rights protecting them from unreasonable search and seizure were violated. Fudge said what the owners had neglected to do was ask the federal judge to grant them a stay of the business license revocation. He noted that there is currently a legal dispute as to whether the license can be revoked before the federal court decides the case. The trial is set for August 2009.
George said the city will continue its efforts to either close the motel or force its owners to comply with the law. The Signal Tribune phoned the Princess Inn to get the owners’ perspective. The woman who answered the phone identified herself as the manager but declined to give her name. “We are not going to talk about anything until after the court case,” she added.
Continuing his presentation at the NAG meeting, George also talked about other problems in the Wrigley area, including dilapidated houses in violation of building codes. He also talked about how city budget cuts were impacting the city prosecutor’s office. Mainly, the office will not fill several vacant positions. “Every third week, I am now covering a courtroom for a week,” George said, explaining that now he would not have as much time for code enforcement and gang injunctions– court orders prohibiting members of a certain gang from associating with each other. Once the order is served, gang members seen together can be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor.
George noted that he works regularly with the LBPD West Division’s Directed Enforcement Team (DET). “They are very good at what they do. You should be proud of them,” he said. He explained that in the last three months, in collaboration with the city prosecutor’s office, the DET has stepped up its enforcement of gang injunctions, thus getting more gang members off the streets.
According to George, the city prosecutor’s office is now adding other charges– such as illegal possession of a firearm and commission of a hate crime– to violators of the injunctions. He said the additional charges make it more likely that the offenders will be given lengthy sentences.

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