Law Is Law, With No Ifs, Ands or Butts

The irony was almost laughable. The National Assn. of Social Workers Inc. brunched on Saturday to hear public officials talk about allocation of tobacco settlement money.

And where did it meet? At the Revere House in Tustin.

The Revere House. Orange County’s smoke factory. Where management and patrons flip off the state smoking-ban law with a tap of their cigarette ashes.

Where restaurant-bar owner Mike Doyle, a member of the Tustin City Council, continues to mock Tustin Police Chief Steven Foster as if he were the town clown.

I went back to the Revere House’s bar twice this week, just in case it had cleaned up its act and my disdain was out of date. Nope. Only thing to keep you from smoking was lack of a match. Smokers lit up freely, and ashtrays were provided ahead of time on almost every table.

But those appalled by open disregard for the state’s nearly three-year ban on workplace smoking can take heart. California’s attorney general himself has sent a stern written message to Tustin city officials, warning them it’s their obligation to uphold the smoking ban.

Unfortunately, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer dropped the ball right after that and took no further action. But at least he’s in the ballgame. A little more pressure on Lockyer might send him back to hit cleanup.

Though Lockyer wrote his letter in March, I only saw it this week.

Hot dog!

The attorney general taking on the defiant Mike Doyle. I wanted a ringside seat for that.

But then Councilwoman Tracy Wills Worley wrote back to Lockyer. Yes, she said, the Revere House is one of four establishments in the city where the police have made enforcement visits because of smoking problems. In fact, she said, the Revere House has been “subjected to a level of enforcement that borders on the onerous.”

Then she added: “My fellow council members and I are very comfortable with the Police Department’s enforcement program.”

Then I saw Lockyer’s response.

Oh, he wrote, OK.

That’s that. Later he wrote to a complaining patron that the issue was being taken care of.

Round One to Doyle.

Foster told me this week that his officers do make random calls on the Revere House and that numerous patrons have been cited for smoking. Doyle gets no special treatment just because he’s a councilman, the chief said.

In fairness to Foster, the way the law is written does make it difficult to enforce the smoking law. You have to catch people in the act. Not a whole lot of smokers will ask a cop if they can bum a cigarette so they can blow smoke rings in front of the thin blue line.

Opinions differ on when you can cite an owner. County officials say an owner can be cited for flagrant behavior (such as providing ashtrays), but many in law enforcement don’t interpret it that way.

Here’s what Foster wrote to a patron that disturbed me:

“I have no intention of being ‘smoke’ police and putting undercover police officers in all of our restaurants/taverns, waiting for someone to violate the law.” He went on to say that he does not have adequate resources for that, which may be a valid point.

It leaves the question, though: If the police can’t be the smoke police, who can be?

If I were the police chief and a member of the city council was brazenly defying me, I wouldn’t consider my enforcement “onerous” until I opened a police substation in his bar.

If not the police, why can’t public health officials enforce the law, you ask? Why don’t they simply declare such places a public health hazard because of the dangers of secondhand smoke? Health officials tell me the smoking ban comes under the state Labor Code, not any health codes. Their hands are tied until the law is changed.

To be clear, Revere House owner Mike Doyle claims he is not violating any laws. His interpretation of the law simply differs from mine--and 98% of other Californians. That’s what Lockyer said in his letter to the mayor, that all but 2% know what the law is.

Lockyer had some other good things to say:

“It is incumbent on elected leaders at all levels to set an example of compliance. I urge you and your fellow council members to ensure . . . fair enforcement of this law in all business establishments in the city of Tustin.”

Don’t think there’s nothing you can do about those who ignore the smoking ban in public places. You can call this county number: (714) 541-1444.

That will prompt a county letter to the establishment you are complaining about, plus a copy to law enforcement in that city, either the police or city code enforcement. In many cases, it has led to better compliance, county officials say.

“We appreciate these calls, because the callers are our eyes and ears in the community,” said Herm Perlmutter, supervisor for the county’s Tobacco Use Prevention Program.

By the way, I’m not here to pick on the National Assn. of Social Workers. James Walker, an ardent anti-smoking advocate who attended the meeting, said that those who set it up had chosen the Revere House inadvertently, unaware of its smoking history.

Maybe in the future they’ll meet somewhere else.

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Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday and Thursday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 966-7789 or e-mail at jerry.hicks@latimes.com.