Eateries: The Vote on the Smoking Ordinance

Re: “Restaurateurs Say Councilman Double-Crossed Them” (Dec. 4).

Boy, was I steamed at how City Councilman Tony Vazquez double-crossed the restaurant owners who paid him to vote against a restrictive smoking law.

But here’s my question: Is there a menu or a price list of how much votes cost? Does each council member publish his or her own, or are these things negotiable, like for congressional representatives? I need to get a zoning law changed in a hurry and I was wondering who the cheapest council members are because I don’t have a lot of money and some comparison shopping guidelines would sure help.

LEE GRUENFELD

Santa Monica

*

Re: This Sunday’s article on the restaurateurs who thought they could buy Tony Vazquez only to have him vote his conscience--they’re not the only ones who feel they’ve been double-crossed.

I campaigned vigorously for Bob Holbrook and his so-called Safe City slate because I truly believed he had the interests and safety of the people of Santa Monica as his priority. Therefore, I was bitterly disappointed to learn the only reason he cast a “yea” vote for the new, tougher smoking ordinance was so he could revisit it and ensure its defeat once he and his cronies were sworn in.

I had an occasion to let him know how I felt about this and he freely admitted that the “hospitality” industry in Santa Monica had convinced him they would lose a ton of money as a result of the ordinance, especially with European tourists who smoke like forest fires. The specific example he used was the Loews hotel. “They’ve got thousands of square feet of open space in their atrium! Why shouldn’t people be allowed to smoke in the lobby?” I pointed out to him that the Coliseum, Dodger Stadium and the Rose Bowl have thousands of miles of airspace, yet smoking is prohibited in those places. Those examples, of course, fell on deaf ears.

Santa Monica and its council have a duty to protect their citizens first--everyone else comes second. My advice to the Loews hotel: Set aside rooms for smokers like everyone else does but prohibit smoking in the lobby, where the vast majority of people who are nonsmokers won’t have their health compromised.

To the restaurateurs, bars and human chimneys: Learn to live with the new law.

To Bob Holbrook: Vote what you believe so we can believe your vote. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve compromised your integrity this time.

ANDREW FINLEY

Santa Monica