Topics / NEIGHBORHOODS : Parents Picket Massage Salon Next to School

A chain-link fence separates the windows of the Swedish Salon massage parlor on North Garey Avenue in Pomona from the curious eyes of children at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.

Two dozen parents and students from the newly expanded school stood on one side of the fence on a recent morning, holding picket signs and shouting, “Go away so we can play!” Cold eyes stared at the parlor and the talk was of pornographic magazines found crumpled in the schoolyard.

On the other side sat the masseuses, who describe themselves as working mothers who are sick of being portrayed as prostitutes as they try to earn an honest living.

Behind closed doors, meanwhile, attorneys for both parties have spent most of the last two weeks arguing the legality of the parlor in a still-unfinished hearing that will determine if the city can deny the Swedish Salon an operating permit and shut down the business.

The Swedish Salon opened at 1293 N. Garey Ave. in 1969. The school, built in 1937, was still on the other side of the block. But community objections grew over the years as the school added parking lots and playgrounds and moved closer and closer to the massage parlor, said Julian Villasenor, administrative director of elementary school services and programs for the Pomona Unified School District.

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When the parlor applied to renew its business license in 1989, the city investigated, found several minor violations dealing with building codes and massage licenses and denied the request, said Roger Colvin, Pomona’s deputy city attorney.

The parlor’s owner, Herschel H. Jennings, fixed the problems, got his masseuses licensed by the city and appealed the denial to city officials. Scheduling conflicts have put the appeal in legal limbo for the past five years until the hearings began March 29, Colvin said.

Jennings said that before 1989, the salon had operated for nearly 20 years with no violations. Police have never reported any illegal activity there.

But school officials and parents say they have collected pornographic magazines and packaged, unopened condoms that have been dropped over the fence. Parents complain that their children see the women who work at the salon wearing provocative clothing.

Some City Council members have made no bones about their desire to kick the parlor out of town. Mayor Eddie Cortez has gone on TV denouncing the salon, and Councilwoman Nell Soto, who has had five grandchildren attend Lincoln, has protested along with the parents.

“The council is determined to get rid of it one way or the other,” Soto said. “We are determined to find some loophole . . . we want him to go away.”

Surprisingly, Soto’s desire to see the salon go was echoed by salon owner Jennings.

“I would be more than happy to sell the property,” said Jennings, noting that the city backed out of a deal to buy the land two years ago.

Jennings wants the right to relocate to the site of his choice or get the right price for his land before he gives up his salon. “You can’t take away someone’s license just because you don’t like them,” he said.

But parent Cyndi Guerra sees it differently.

“We see these women coming to work in short skirts with plunging necklines . . . it’s a bad influence on the children,” she said.

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The women in question--who were all modestly dressed the day of the protest--are bewildered by the moral indignation of the parents.

One masseuse said: “Look, I have two kids in the district. (Another masseuse) volunteers at her school. And we’re tired of our kids getting flak from the other kids.”

The masseuse said she did not want to give her name “for obvious reasons.”

“We’re just normal working mothers here who happen to give massages,” she said.