On a night when Culver? City announced its new public?safety chiefs, the contentious topic of smoking garnered the most attention.
After naming Captain Scott Bixby and Interim Chief David White to head Culver City’s police and fire departments, respectively, the City Council sketched out tentative guidelines for a draft ordinance that would prohibit smoking in individual units, common areas, patios, and balconies of apartments, condominiums and townhomes. Smokers would be allowed to smoke only in designated areas, if these guidelines are incorporated into a new city law.
Speakers past and present have spoken against regulating smoking when the topic has come before the council. Several have cited their belief that local and state governments should not insert itself into what people do within the privacy of their own homes.
Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells dismissed what she called an argument against an invasion of government. “The real invasion is having your health compromised,” she said.
Local real estate agent Rich Kissel said that he interacts with a number of real estate associations throughout Los Angeles County and said they have taken what he called a neutral stance on regulating smoking in multi-unit buildings.
“We tend to feel that the issue should be decided by individual property owners and it’s not necessarily the business of government to make personal choices for their owners,” he said. “It’s really more of a question of the difficulty of enforcement and implementation.
“Who’ll handle enforcement and will it become an issue where the landlord can be held responsible for enforcing individual behavior that they really have no control over and that they could be held liable for in a court of law or be a party to an owner-to-owner lawsuit?” Kissel continued. “Whatever you decide to do, please be certain to protect landlords, condo and townhome homeowner associations and the property management companies that run them from any enforcement and liabilities.”
Assistant City Attorney Heather Baker said the staff report indicated landlords would not be liable in potential lawsuits as long as they were in compliance with existing regulations and they followed the provisions in the ordinance.
She also talked about how some municipalities handle executing their laws.
“Enforcement is big deal,” Baker admitted. “Many cities have limited resources, just like Culver City. And if city enforcement is involved, it could involve a lot of staff time.”
Due in large part to the cost of enforcement, the council opted for private enforcement in the draft ordinance.
Culver City resident Lynda Malerstein, a hypnotherapist who helps smokers kick their habit, said she sympathized with the difficulties that some people have overcoming the addiction.
“That does not mean, how- ever, that I am willing to allow their actions to endanger my life or infringe upon my com- fort in my own home,” she asserted.
Malerstein said she has felt victimized by smoke wafting into her third-floor apartment from neighbors smoking on their patios.
“[It] pollutes my living space and endangers my health,” she told the council. Malerstein asked the council to regulate smoking “so that I and others can be assured of our rights from second hand smoke.”
Former mayor Gary Silbiger invoked the memory of Dr. Jesse Steinfeld, the surgeon general under President Richard Nixon during his first term who died on Aug. 5 at the age of 87 and who was an early crusader against smoking andsecond-hand smoke.
“[Steinfeld] issued the first ban on smoking in government buildings. Surgeon. Dr. Steinfeld refused to meet with the tobacco lobbyists and explained that tobacco was the number one drug problem,” Silbiger said. “I ask that this council be as empathetic for the rights of victims of smoking as was the Nixon government that Steinfeld served in.”
Electronic cigarettes, which have become popular among certain demographics, were also discussed.
The council will consider a permanent ordinance at a later date.
The council chose not to act on electronic cigarettes, citing a lack of research on them. Electronic, or e-cigarettes have become popular in fairly recent years with certain demographic groups.
The World Health Organization is examining available data on e-cigarettes. The organization recommended last year that, “consumers should be strongly advised not to use” electronic cigarettes unless a “reputable national regulatory body” has found them safe and effective.
The council will consider a permanent ordinance at a later date.