Smokers Get a Breather in Santa Monica : Ordinance: A divided council repeals parts of an anti-smoking law that would have prohibited cigarettes in bars and hotel lobbies. But bans on vending machines remain.

Smokers got a breather from the Santa Monica City Council this week.

After three hours of citizen comment and debate, the council Tuesday night repealed major provisions of a tough anti-smoking law that would have banned lighting up in virtually all businesses, including hotel lobbies, banquet rooms and bars.

But the council left intact prohibitions against cigarette vending machines and smoking in specified public places, such as elevators and buses. Such measures are not included in a new state anti-smoking law described as the toughest in the nation.

The council originally passed the local law in November. Since then, city elections added two council members, including the council’s only smoker, Ruth Ebner. She was among those in the 4-3 majority who voted to repeal parts of the law.

The debate this week was between those who argued that a near-total smoking ban would drive smokers to neighboring cities and thus harm Santa Monica’s tourism industry, and those who argued that the dangers of secondhand smoke outweigh fiscal considerations.

Employees of local hotels and bars said that the local law would become another burdensome regulation for business owners.

Armando Lopez, security director of the Miramar Sheraton Hotel, said he disliked the prospect of perpetually scolding guests who smoke in the hotel lobby. “I am unwilling to be an enforcement arm of the Santa Monica City Council,” Lopez said at the hearing.

But workers who said they had been harmed by secondhand smoke urged the council to leave the tough local ordinance in place.

Esther Schiller, who said she received a worker’s compensation settlement of $30,000 for injuries from secondhand smoke, suggested that the tough state law will squeeze smokers into fewer and fewer venues. “That means that bars and hotel lobbies in Santa Monica will be smokier and much more hazardous to the people who work in them,” she told the council.

Such testimony may have been moot, as the new council majority, citing concerns over the impact on local business, had been widely expected to repeal parts of the anti-smoking law.

Yet Councilman Ken Genser, a staunch smoking foe, nevertheless launched a filibuster against the repeal. He peppered speakers with long queries about their testimony and railed against his colleagues for caving into what he described as fear surrounding the anti-smoking issue.

“We’re putting economies above the health of our city. We have many rules costing business in the long term . . . but this city has never failed to adopt those laws when they’d protect the health of the community,” Genser said during the hearing.

As the debate dragged on, Ebner attempted to muzzle Genser by noting that he had far exceeded his allotted 10 minutes of floor time to argue the issue. Genser responded by introducing an amendment that added a definition of the word bar to the local ordinance. The debate over the amendment, which eventually passed, consumed an additional 10 minutes.

Mayor Paul Rosenstein, clearly irritated by Genser’s stall tactics, called for a vote by saying, “I believe most of this hearing has been a waste of time. . . . We’re basically arguing over nuances.”

Besides Ebner, Rosenstein and council members Asha Greenberg and Robert T. Holbrook voted for the repeal. Opposed were Genser and Councilwomen Judy Abdo and Pamela O’Connor.