Santa Ana to Ban Smoking in City Buildings : Health: It’s the 25th municipality in the county to OK such a policy. Even a council smoker backs it.

Smokers in Santa Ana city buildings will have to go outside to take a puff, the City Council decided Tuesday.

An ordinance passed unanimously will prohibit smoking in 22 buildings owned, leased or used by the city. It will take effect when the council approves it a second time.

More than 1,400 employees work in those buildings, some of which already have their own non-smoking policies, officials said.

Councilman Thomas E. Lutz voted for the ban, even though he smokes.

“Just one more reason to quit,” said Lutz, who added that he does not smoke during work hours. “I’ll just smoke in the closet,” he said jokingly.

The ordinance will make Santa Ana the 25th Orange County city to enact a non-smoking policy, said Phillip Falcetti of the County Health Care Agency.

About 250 California cities have ordinances ranging from bans in public restrooms to controls in restaurants, city officials said. Nine other cities in the county ban smoking in city buildings.

Increasingly, employers may be held liable for health risks to employees who work around smokers, Falcetti said.

After a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report in January indicated that 50,000 people a year die from effects of secondhand smoke, “a lot of cities are becoming proactive in eliminating the smoke in their workplaces,” Falcetti said.

Santa Ana’s ordinance was applauded by resident Jim Walker, who started a Citizens for a Tobacco-Free Santa Ana. That group circulated a petition, signed by more than 200 people, which sought smoking bans in the city.

“This is not really a civil liberties issue--it’s a health issue,” Walker said.

Walker said such ordinances are needed because state bills against smoking in public facilities have been shelved. Anti-smoking advocates said they may be shifting their lobbying efforts to cities and counties instead of the state.