Locals concerned over motions to investigate storefront signs

Dozens of local residents and business owners voiced concerns to the Westwood Neighborhood Council Wednesday about two motions passed by the council in September asking authorities to investigate local Iranian storefront signs.

The motions asked city officials to investigate signs promoting business activities, including consular services, in connection with the state of Iran. The motions were introduced in September after councilmember Roozbeh Farahanipour claimed the signs promote activities that violate U.S. sanctions against Iran.

At the meeting, some public commenters said their businesses have seen a decrease in customers after Persian publications in Westwood reported on the motions. Farahanipour, an activist who openly criticizes Iran’s Islamic government, said some of the Persian publications misrepresented the motions by reporting that the council wants to remove all signs in Farsi in Westwood.

One of the motions asked for Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz, who represents Westwood, to look into whether signs in some Westwood Iranian businesses broke any laws regarding the sanctions, while the second motion called for the same businesses to take down their signs that may have violated the sanctions.

Aurelia Friedman, a student representative on the Westwood Neighborhood Council, said she asked the council to revisit the motions at its November meeting and consider rescinding them. She said she suggested revisiting the motions after a public commenter told the council that his business lost many customers who read articles about them.

The council voted against Friedman’s motion, electing not to add a discussion of the motions to its November meeting agenda. Two other councilmembers voted in support of Friedman’s motion.

Jacob Finn, a third-year psychology student and councilmember who supports revisiting the motions, said he thinks many councilmembers wanted to be consistent in their stances and believed the motions were passed to ensure that local businesses were following the law.

“The majority of the board feels like we should keep moving forward and let it go,” he said. “But the public commenters came out and brought their concerns, so I feel that as (representatives) we need to address them.”

Friedman said some public commenters said they viewed the motions as discriminating against local businesses and that some said they were considering filing lawsuits against the council because they were losing business after local media outlets reported on the motions.

“I feel like we need to address this in some respect to show that our intent wasn’t malicious,” she said.

On Wednesday, Farahanipour said several business owners had taken down or altered their signs in the weeks since the motions were passed.

Faramarz Bolandpour, who runs a clerical services office on Westwood Boulevard that displayed a sign that Farahanipour claimed advertised illegal services, said in September that his business offers consular services through the Iranian Embassy, and that he planned to continue using the sign because he does not think the consular services violate U.S. sanctions.

Farahanipour said public commenters at the meeting described him and another councilmember, Sandy Brown, as trying to “blacklist” their businesses by asking only Persian business owners to take down their signs.

Farahanipour said he thinks the allegations do not make sense because he is from Iran and supports the Persian community in Westwood.

“How can one Persian be a racist against other Persians?” he said.

Katherine Hennigan, economic development director in Koretz’s office, told the Westwood Community Council in September that if law enforcement officials thought the businesses were engaging in illegal activity, city officials would have already been investigating them. The city is not currently investigating the claims made in the motions.

Contributing reports from Jeong Park, Bruin senior staff.