Public Safety Applicants Would Be Affected : Laguna to Consider Nonsmoker Hiring Policy

Nonsmoking applicants for police and firefighter jobs would be given preference over smokers under a new hiring policy that the Laguna Beach City Council is expected to consider tonight.

If the new policy is eventually adopted, Laguna Beach will be the first Orange County city with a hiring preference for nonsmokers.

Outside the county, South Pasadena gives preference to nonsmokers for all municipal jobs, while Monrovia, Downey and San Mateo require all new firefighters to be nonsmokers.

Under the Laguna Beach proposal, smokers could be hired as firefighters and police officers but only after all nonsmoking applicants had been considered for employment.

Personnel director Rob Clark said in his report to the council that the hiring preference is justified because smokers tend to be sick more and use medical benefits at a higher rate than nonsmokers.

Also, Clark said, state workmen’s compensation laws make it “difficult or impossible” to deny disability benefits to police officers and firefighters suffering from heart disease--and to firefighters who have cancer--even though smoking and other factors could have contributed to the disease.

City Manager Ken Frank recalled the case of a young city police lieutenant who took a disability retirement after he suffered a heart attack on the job three years ago. The officer was a heavy cigar smoker and was overweight, Frank said.

“There is some merit to expecting people to refrain from smoking since it has been shown that that is a primary cause of cancer,” he added.

Today, Laguna Beach firefighters and police officers on disability are entitled to one year of full pay and benefits and a 50% lifetime pension regadless of how long they worked for the city.

As the proposal now reads, a job applicant would be considered a nonsmoker if he or she has not smoked for at least one year. If the applicant is hired, he or she may not begin smoking during the one-year probationary period. The policy would not apply to current employees or in evaluating workers for promotions.