Long Beach City Council revisits the issue tomorrow

The public relations people for the Dr. Phil TV show weren’t lying when they said, rather vaguely, that if they were producing a segment on the Alamitos Beach sex offenders, it might run some time in March.

It aired Friday–meaning that, by now, you’ve missed it. (I TiVoed it, which is not one of my proudest accomplishments.) But let’s examine the outrage, shall we?

Admittedly, this is a subject worth being outraged about: 10 registered sex offenders on parole, all living in the same First Street apartment house near two daycare centers. Property owners told Dr. Phil that their tenants were breaking leases left and right. Neighbors said they didn’t feel safe in their homes any more.

“Just the thought of today’s topic gets people angry, frustrated and fired up: should a registered sex offender be allowed to move into and live in your neighborhood?” McGraw said by way of introduction, adroitly managing to stay out of the discussion.

“We’re on the Dr. Phil Now set today because I am talking about something I consider to be urgent,” he noted later in the show, reminding us of his TV set’s unique ability to change lives.

McGraw–and millions of viewers–also heard from two former residents of the apartment building, one of whom told him that the building’s new owners (since late last year) “would either bribe or strong-arm the tenants to get them out of the building” to make way for sex offenders.

“I want them out of the country,” said the former tenant, identified only by his first name, James. “I want to see them under the–I want to see them gone.” That’s nice–deport them for doing something that’s not only legal, it’s capitalist.

The Dr. Phil people appeared to try to interview the building’s owners to get their side–but when they ambushed a person in a silver Mercedes coupe whom they believed was one of the building’s owners, the car quickly made a turn and drove away.

The building’s owners have steadfastly maintained that renting to sex offenders–earning about $1,500 from the state for each renter, according to a recent Los Angeles Times piece–is legal, and it is.

But is it safe? John Sparling, a neighbor, told the Dr. Phil show that he believes making the men live together in one complex is actually more dangerous. (The state Department of Corrections says the opposite: more safe.)

“Clustering in a neighborhood is out of the question,” Sparling said on the show. “But do we want them pushed out in the street? Absolutely not.”

But where would the Alamitos Beach sex offenders go? No one seems to have a plan for that. Thanks to Megan’s Law, and to the portions of Jessica’s Law which have been enacted, sex offenders already can live only in prescribed areas.

The Long Beach City Council will revisit the question on Tuesday; the Press-Telegram’s Paul Eakins reports they’ll consider changing the law to further restrict where sex offenders can and can’t live in Long Beach.

(Drafting the law took so long, Eakins noted, that it hasn’t actually been made available to reporters yet–because apparently the City Attorney’s office is still writing it.)

Tags: alamitos beach, California, Dr. Phil, Dr. Phil McGraw, Jessica's Law, John Sparling, Long Beach, Long Beach City Council, Los Angeles Times, megan's law, press telegram, Second Council District, sex offenders, Southern California, The District Weekly, Theo Douglas