SANTA MONICA : Restaurateurs Say Councilman Double-Crossed Them

Santa Monica restaurateurs have accused City Councilman Tony Vazquez of double-crossing them by casting the deciding vote in favor of a restrictive anti-smoking law.

Eatery owners said Vazquez promised to back them at a hastily called fund-raiser he initiated a week before the November election. Vazquez, who despite a last-minute infusion of cash from the restaurant owners lost his reelection bid, denied he broke a promise.

“I don’t promise anybody votes,” Vazquez said.

But Greg Lee, co-owner of the Broadway Bar and Grill, recalls otherwise. Lee said he viewed his $250 contribution--the maximum amount that can be given under city law--as a quid pro quo for Vazquez’s support on the smoking ban.

“I said (to Vazquez), ‘I’m giving you this check on the basis that you have agreed to support us,’ ” Lee said. Vazquez’s response, Lee said, was, “Fine.”

The exchange, Lee said, took place on Oct. 31 at a meeting and fund-raiser organized by Tony Palermo, co-owner of “Teasers,” a Santa Monica restaurant, and president of a downtown restaurant association.

Palermo said Vazquez called him days earlier, saying his campaign needed thousands of dollars for last-minute expenses and asking Palermo to contact restaurant owners to raise the money.

The restaurant owners, most of whom did not contribute to other City Council candidates this year, knew a vote was imminent on a tough ordinance that would have banned smoking in all restaurants and free-standing bars. They were already lobbying council members to keep city smoking regulations in line with a less restrictive statewide measure that goes into effect Jan. 1.

The state law allows restaurants and free-standing bars two years either to ban smoking or make strides toward installing ventilation equipment that would remove smoke from the air.

At the fund-raising meeting, Vazquez said he sympathized with the economic concerns of the restaurateurs, who want the same smoking rules as other cities to keep clientele.

Vazquez acknowledges telling the owners he could support a compromise measure that would give establishments two years, instead of four, to become smoke-free. Palermo said Vazquez later reiterated this support privately at a Nov. 15 City Council hearing attended by dozens of restaurant, hotel and bar owners.

But a week later, when his motion for a two-year grace period failed for lack of a second, Vazquez cast the deciding vote to mandate smoke-free establishments in one year. This vote, restaurant owners say, was the double-cross. If Vazquez had not cast it, the statewide guidelines would apply to Santa Monica.

Palermo said he fielded many calls the next day from irate restaurant owners who had donated money to Vazquez after he had promised to back them.

“You can only take a man at his word and his word doesn’t mean a thing,” Palermo said.

All may not be lost for the restaurant, bar and hotel owners, however. Councilman Robert T. Holbrook said he would move to reconsider the law after the new City Council is sworn in this week. And with Vazquez and Kelly Olsen, the prime supporter of an immediate smoking ban, no longer on the council, Holbrook looks likely to prevail.