Ban on "Rooms by the Hour" (Houston, San Antonio: apartment, city hall)

[Bo]

Another reason this move bothers me occurred to me overnight. Let's say that this ordinance turns out to be 100% effective at eliminating prostitution in hotel rooms. Where will those displaced prostitutes conduct their business now? Dark alleys? Vehicle back seats? City parks? Are those options an improvement over the status quo?

It puzzles me that our city council is so concerned about things that are taking place in the privacy of hotel rooms.

[sapphire]

Um, don't look now, but they're already doing it in back seats, dark alleys, and other places. If anyone thinks this is going to stop prostitution, they are just delusional.

[rd2007]

extremely dark alleys might explain a few things, such as why you would pay for something that disgusting for instance..

[chipsndip]

Originally Posted by Bowie

It puzzles me that our city council is so concerned about things that are taking place in the privacy of hotel rooms.

The problem with prostitution is not what takes place in hotel rooms - it's the drug and violence culture that goes along with it. I just don't know that this hotel ruling is going to help... It will be interesting to see the results in a year's time...

[kevcrawford]

I realize that this isn't going to stop prostitution. What this does is two things. First, if a problem starts to arise with tons of hookers hanging out near some sleazy place that exists only to rent out rooms for prostitution (see Cherry St, Austin Hwy, etc), and it starts affecting the neighborhoods around it, it gives the authorities to do something about it, rather than just saying "our hands are tied".

Second, it says that someone is taking a stand on morality, which is an inherently good thing for our kids.

This isn't going to lead to a rash of arrests, but it's a PR statement that says that someone cares about cleaning up our city. Remember how bad Times Square was years ago until Giuliani stepped in and cleared out the strip clubs, by the hour hotels, etc. It didn't stop prostitution, but it lead to the cleaning up of a great town.

It's a small step, and most importantly, it didn't take away from anything else our city needs to focus on. If anything, it started public awareness about how many of these things there are around.

And couples that need to get away are probably going to legit hotels that rent by the day, which is where most of them would go anyway. The Holiday Inn's of the world aren't going to be affected like this.

[sapphire]

I agree, kevcrawford........just let one of these "by the hour" hotels open up in an otherwise desirable neighborhood that one of these posters happens to live in and see how big an issue it becomes.

[cr1039]

Originally Posted by kevcrawford

If placing a ban on this took away from leaders doing other things that are important, I could see your argument. But it's not like they had to choose between ending homelessness or banning rooms by the hour.

A widening gap of morality is a huge problem for this country (and the world) and I honestly believe that if morals were something that people would focus more on, the larger problems in the world would start to solve themselves.

Why is paying for sex or taking drugs "immoral", perhaps just against your morals. - Not an attack, but s serious question. Where to draw the line? Pot is not okay but happy hour for a working person stressed to the nines is acceptable? Paying for protected sex is not okay but gawking at the Victoria's Secret Runway Show broadcasted on television is okay?

Again, pot is not okay but pharmacuticals to alter our state of being and happiness is okay? Paying for sex is not okay but looking at porn on the family computer - as long as nobody finds it is okay.

Just seems like each person should, in a perfect world, be able to make their own decisions regarding conduct when it comes it sex, drugs or anything else.

Besides, I could certainly understand someone needing a room for a few hours to shower and take a nap before continuing on a long road trip perhaps.

[kevcrawford]

Against 99.99999% of people's morals. Even those that do it know it's wrong and there is absolutely NOTHING good that can come out of it. It's an addiction that ruins people's lives. Personally, my beliefs are based in my Faith, but take Faith out of it...there is NO GOOD that can come out of paying for sex or abusing drugs. No matter how you want to spin it.

The argument for the one person that needs to take a break on a road trip is a weak one. While there may be one or two people out of 10,000 that need it for that reason, "rent by the hour" motels are for one reason only. Those that are on road trips plan for that sort of thing and most likely aren't going to stay in a room with a freshly stained set of sheets from the person the hour before.

If you don't see that the lack of morality is a seriously growing problem in the world, then you've proved my point. When people don't see certain things as morally wrong (religious or not), we're in a tailspin.

[Schaertl]

These motels are not in industrial areas where no one lives, they are in neighborhoods. Mostly older, rundown parts of town. Do any of you live near them? Your main concern is the "taggers". I'll bet if you had taggers and prostitutes in your neighborhood the prostitutes would invoke more concern. The council-people have an obligation to the neighborhoods to try something. Outlawing prostitution didn't work. Patrolling didn't work. It's time to try something else. Will it work, probably not, but it is a step in the right direction.

[chipsndip]

For some people, murder might not be morally wrong - yet we accept as a society that it IS wrong. Prostitution is illegal, and it brings many negatives to the neighborhoods in which it is practiced. Arguing about where a moral line is drawn is a bit of a straw man - the line is already drawn, and it comes down to enforcement.