Semillas Response to Hecho en Mexico AKA “Puro Desmadre Entertainment”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 25, 2013

Semillas Community Schools today responded to allegations made by restaurant  Hecho en Mexico AKA “Puro Desmadre Entertainment” (“HEM”) in El Sereno, California. 

“It is unfortunate that Hecho en Mexico feels singled out. This issue is more about school safety and adequate oversight of conditional liquor licenses around neighborhood schools especially when these establishments operate outside of those conditions,” according to Dr. Juan Gomez Quinones, UCLA professor and president of the Semillas Council of Trustees. 

Semillas administrators and parents have attempted to address these matters sensitively in the past by calling for intervention by elected officials and the proper oversight of authorities to investigate the nature of Hecho en Mexico’s after-hours adult entertainment for over two years.

According to legal experts, the complaint filed by Hecho En Mexico against Semillas is without merit.  As such, Semillas has pledged to continue to hold Hecho en Mexico accountable for filing this frivolous lawsuit. According to Semillas legal counsel Daniel Bramzon, “We feel so confident that we will prevail in a court of law that we will defend Semillas pro bono as needed.” 

“Hecho en Mexico has presented no evidence to correlate their alleged decline in business to the supposed activities by Semillas. Furthermore, given the climate of a recession, a depressed business corridor, and rising levels of unemployment in the restaurant industry, we feel their allegations are unfounded. To the contrary, Semillas has been a leader in the community, revitalizing blighted buildings and reinforcing a decades-old moratorium on the proliferation of liquor licenses in El Sereno,” said Marcos Aguilar, Semillas’ executive director.

“Semillas is an educational organization dedicated to academic excellence for inner-city students. We have no interest in operating this restaurant as alleged by the complainants,” Aguilar added. 

Semillas recently earned a six-year accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges as well as a five year re-authorization by the most respected authority in international education, the International Baccalaureate organization. 

“Adult-oriented entertainment, such as strip teases and general debauchery next to Semillas’ elementary school facilities, in addition to being outside the scope of their liquor license, has forced school administrators to cut back on after school programming, thereby reducing help desperately needed by neighborhood kids. This is precisely why their liquor license is limited,” Aguilar commented.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

DANIEL BRAMZON, BASTA, 213-736-5050

FOR INTERVIEWS CONTACT: INFO@DIGNIDAD.ORG

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