City leaders, worried that a decision in Los Angeles to require condom use by porn actors could shift the adult entertainment industry to neighboring communities, are looking at the possibility of passing a similar ordinance to keep the business out of Simi Valley.

“I don’t want to wait until they start salivating to come out to Simi Valley. I want them to know they are definitely not welcome in our town,” Mayor Bob Huber said. “This is a family-oriented town. I want to make sure we do everything in our power to keep them from coming here.”

In a 9-1 vote on Jan. 17, the Los Angeles City Council gave the final okay for an ordinance requiring adult film producers to make condom use by actors mandatory. The ordinance applies to any adult set requiring a film permit within L.A. city limits. Permits are not needed when filming on a soundstage or studio backlot.

The new law was borne out of the efforts of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The L.A.-based group has rallied for years to require condom use on shoots to protect the health of porn performers.

Last year, the foundation gathered enough voter signatures to place an initiative on the June ballot. To avoid paying more than $4 million to hold a special election, the L.A. City Council decided to adopt the measure as an ordinance instead.

The foundation is now collecting signatures for a measure to go to L.A. County voters in November. It would require condom use and ask porn producers to obtain permits from the county Department of Public Health before filming. The county would also be able to conduct surprise inspections.

The San Fernando Valley is the hub of the adult entertainment industry, with many of the studios located in Chatsworth.

With the passage of the condom law in L.A. city and a countywide measure in the works, some local officials are worried that writers, directors, producers and performers will opt to move filming over the hill to Simi Valley to escape the new rule.

Huber recently took a strong stand to root out illicit massage parlors in town. Likewise, the mayor doesn’t want to see porn purveyors setting up shop in Simi, and he believes residents feel the same way.

“I believe that our community would have very strong feelings against porn people migrating from the west San Fernando Valley to Simi Valley,” he said.

Mayor Pro Tem Barbra Williamson shared her colleague’s concerns and agreed that Simi Valley needs to be prepared.

“I certainly think they will ( come here) unless we take steps to stop it, and we are in the process of doing that,” she said. “We want to head this off at the pass, so to speak. We need to ensure that we have rules and ordinances in our community just as much as Los Angeles if not more so, because we are a smaller, close-knit community.”

But the Free Speech Coalition, a nonprofit trade association for the adult entertainment industry, doesn’t see the need for a knee-jerk reaction.

“Let’s not start fear-mongering. It’s not about ‘we’re going to be invading your city,’” said Diane Duke, executive director of the coalition for almost six years. “ It’s about is this something that the government should be regulating? And the answer is no, it will only do more harm than good.”

Duke labeled L.A. city’s law “government overreach” and a result of other groups trying to impose their morality on the industry.

“They know nothing about the industry,” she said. “Government really needs to stay out of our bedrooms, whether it’s real or pretend.”

The industry has self- imposed regulations to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases: Producers require performers be tested every 28 days. There hasn’t been a transmission of HIV within the industry since 2004, Duke said, but she believes the new law may compromise existing safety protocols because performers won’t wear condoms and then get tested as well.

Another issue is the fact that non- condom films are more popular with viewers. While she doesn’t believe the condom law will cripple the industry, Duke said it may get to the point where filmmakers throw up their hands and leave the state—taking all their income with them. There are other options, she said, like Las Vegas.

Duke doesn’t see the industry making an exodus to Simi.

“I don’t believe that Simi will see an influx of hundreds of adult performers to create content,” she said.

Duke said FilmL.A.—a nonprofit that coordinates and processes permits for on-location motion picture, television and commercial productions—reports issuing about 40 permits a month for filming that includes nudity, and that’s not just for porn producers.

“Of those, maybe 30, are they going to run to Simi Valley? Probably not. . . . You’re not going to suddenly see multiple porn productions happening in Simi Valley,” she said. “Maybe an isolated one or two. There’s a lot of factors that determine where people shoot.”

But Huber questioned whether the coalition is really the best to gauge what the adult entertainment industry will do.

“What does the Free Speech Coalition know? This is all driven by money. . . . What insight do they have into the greed and motivation of the porn purveyors?” Huber asked.

“I believe in free speech, but let them do this somewhere else, as far as I’m concerned.”

In an attempt to be proactive, Huber asked the city attorney’s office to draft an ordinance similar L.A.’s.

Williamson supports the move.

“If L.A. is going to put an ordinance on the books that is going to make these people sit up and take notice, we should be doing the same thing,” she said, adding that the porn industry might as well accept the new law and stay put.

“They are going to have to say this is the law and we have to adhere to it, because even if they go down the 101 corridor or the 118 corridor, they are going to find other cities doing the same thing.”

The full City Council will discuss the draft ordinance at its meeting Monday.