Activists Hope to Fire Up Smoking Ban Enforcement Effort

The law was supposed to send gusts of fresh air billowing through the smoke-filled haze of California’s bars and restaurants, consigning smokers to outdoor patios and parking lots.

But 2 1/2 years after the statewide ban on workplace smoking took effect, the city of Los Angeles has not fined a single bar for violating the rule. Frustrated with the enforcement effort, a group of anti-smoking activists announced a new tack Wednesday: They plan to file suits in small claims court against bar owners accused of ignoring the law.

The most that plaintiffs can hope to reap from each suit is $500 in punitive damages, but attorney John Birke, who filed one such claim in June, said the idea is to spark a grass-roots uprising against smoking scofflaws. The activists also intend to file a civil lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that bar owners who fail to stub out smoking violate the Americans With Disabilities Act by denying access to people with respiratory problems.

“What I would like to see is people all over the state using the small claims court to enforce the smoking ban and to show these bar owners who have been in violation of this ban for 2 1/2 years that there are consequences,” Birke said.

At a news conference held in front of the Candy Canyon Cocktail Lounge, Caryl Dodd said she sued the bar owner after he refused to stop patrons from smoking--or put out his own cigarette--when she asked him to enforce the ban. The Woodland Hills woman said she had stopped at the bar, tucked in the corner of a Topanga Canyon Boulevard mini-mall, to apply for a bartending job.

“I wear contact lenses and my eyes are very susceptible to smoke,” Dodd said.

Frank Sardo, the owner named in Dodd’s small claims action, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The bar was locked and its telephone had been disconnected.

The statewide effort to enforce the smoking ban has met with spotty success. A survey earlier this year by the California Smoke-Free Bar Program, an offshoot of the American Lung Assn., showed that 40% of California’s free-standing bars were flouting the law.

Compliance was about 80% in Orange County, while in Los Angeles County half the stand-alone taverns appeared to be ignoring the ban, according to the survey. The enforcement push in Los Angeles is driven by complaints, while other cities have taken a more aggressive stance. In San Diego, for example, undercover police officers are sometimes sent on sweeps of bars.

In Los Angeles, the city attorney’s office has set up a toll-free number for complaints about violations. A single complaint triggers a warning letter, officials said, while repeat complaints are referred to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Each month, the Fire Department gets about 30 to 40 referrals about alleged violations at businesses, said Fire Capt. Mark Gozawa, who oversees the enforcement unit. The department has just two full-time inspectors to cover more than 3,200 bars citywide, plus all the office buildings and other facilities covered by the Smoke-Free Workplace Act.

The city also targets individual smokers. So far 140 bar patrons have been cited with violations and slapped with $81 fines, he said.

A warning is usually sufficient to convince business owners to put away their ashtrays and post a no-smoking sign, Gozawa said. To date, only six bar owners have been required to appear at a city hearing to account for alleged violations, and none was fined.

“The frustration level is growing,” said Charles Smith, a spokesman for the American Cancer Society, which supported the smoking ban. “We haven’t really had any enforcement, except when people complain.”

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More inspectors would allow the Fire Department to do spot-checks at local bars, rather than simply chasing down complaints, Gozawa said. He acknowledged that the effort often runs up against the same defense that has long thwarted teachers trying to bust teenagers sneaking a smoke in the school bathroom: Someone spots the authorities coming and sounds a warning.

“A lot of the businesses have gotten to the point where they recognize our cars, they recognize our [inspectors],” he said. “And they put out all their cigarettes.”