CALABASAS : Councilman Fights Smoking Measure

Nothing offends City Councilman Marvin Lopata more than smelling secondhand smoke when he’s dining in a restaurant.

So he’s working to defeat a measure on the state ballot, Proposition 188, that would override Calabasas’ ban on smoking in restaurants and other public places.

“I feel that I don’t have to smell the smoke,” Lopata said. “If you are a smoker and you enjoy smoking, that’s your business, as long as it doesn’t affect me.”

He convinced three other council members Wednesday to support a city resolution denouncing the ballot question.

Lopata wants to keep in place a city ordinance that went into effect in October, 1993, prohibiting smoking in restaurants and workplaces. The only exception is bars.

Proposition 188, sponsored by Philip Morris Inc., would override anti-smoking laws that have been set up by local communities.

Under the measure, smoking in public would be allowed in enclosed, designated areas as long as certain ventilation standards were met. Restaurants would still have to provide nonsmoking sections.

The drafters of Proposition 188 argue that the law would protect nonsmokers, while making sure government does not interfere with personal liberties.

Lopata believes ventilation systems would not be enough to protect people from secondhand smoke.

He failed to convince Councilwoman Lesley Devine, however. Devine, a smoker, abstained from voting on the matter.

“Anything that is on the ballot, the voters have the right to decide, so let them decide,” she said. “Unless a ballot measure directly affects the income of a city, the city should not be taking positions.”

She opposed the original initiative. “I had businesses screaming about that,” she said. “Restaurants were telling me they were going to get put out of business.”