RIGONOMICS:

If you have ever looked closely at local government you would find all sorts of citizen committees that make recommendations to their city council.

The process works pretty well most of the time, but sometimes it just becomes a train wreck. Take for example when the Parks and Recreation Commission in Costa Mesa categorized 28 of the city’s 30 parks as “passive.” The real issue had more to do with which parks were set up for team sports.

Needless to say the City Council voted to “receive and file,” which comes under the category of “I don’t think so” without having to vote no.

The City Council of Newport Beach has one of those train-wreck issues working its way to a council vote — to ban smoking in all public places including restaurants that have outdoor dining or a cigar patio.

The city already bans smoking on the beaches, piers and adjoining walkways. The committee driving this latest train is the Environmental Quality Affairs Committee (EQAC) — otherwise know around city hall as “E-quack.” I am not making this up. The committee normally handles some heavy issues such as reviewing and commenting on Environmental Impact Reports.

These are the 50-pound documents that need to be reviewed and edited before you can build a substantial project such as the Pelican Hill Resort, Marinapark Resort or the latest expansion of the Hyatt Regency.

Well, it seems that with the recession putting to a halt real estate projects there is not much for the committee to do. Therefore the E-quack committee, like all governmental agencies, has to find something to do with those monthly meetings and has decided to recommend to the council a smoking ban in all public places, which includes restaurants with outdoor dining. If this committee has its way, it will shut down all the outdoor cigar patios in town.

Full disclosure: On the Fridays that I can get this column done before 4 p.m., I head down to a Newport Beach watering hole that has an outdoor smoking patio.

I meet an ever-changing group of friends to relax after a long week and chat about the issues of the day with an adult beverage and, yes, a cigar. This is a group of working professionals, gathering to share a few stories, before heading home to join our families for dinner.

Out of the more than 300 restaurants in Newport Beach I can count only about a dozen that have an outdoor smoking patio.

These businesses have all figured out how to set up an outdoor smoking patio without disturbing their dinner guests. They have spent tens of thousands of dollars to set up these smoking sanctuaries.

Most restaurants do not accommodate smokers at all, and so there is some business profit to be had for those few who decide to make a place for them.

The committee’s reason for the smoking ban was, of course, the danger to the public with second-hand smoke.

The staff report goes on to say that “… the Surgeon General and the World Health Organization have shown that second-hand smoke causes the same problems as direct smoking.”

Really? I find it hard to believe that a person who gets a whiff of cigar smoke on an outdoor patio has the same health risks as someone who smokes two packs a day.

On closer examination of these reports, it was clear that all the studies they are referring to only look at second-hand smoke in an enclosed area, not an outdoor patio with an ocean breeze.

The committee report also stated that seven cities in California have an outdoor dining ban on smoking. That would leave only 473 cities that do not have a ban. Not exactly a movement throughout the state.

These are the same 473 cities that we have to compete with for expense accounts of business travelers.

They could just as easily stay at the Montage in Laguna Beach or the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point as they could pick the Island or Hyatt Regency here in Newport Beach.

Now, I am not saying that conventions will cancel their bookings here if this passes. But I am asking the question: If there is not really a health issue with outdoor patios, why tell people to go someplace else?

The real reason that some people want this passed is because they do not want anything around them that they find unpleasant.

Please, if you are concerned you might get a whiff of a Macanudo, go to another restaurant. The decision to have a smoking patio should be between the customers and the business owners.

I know of at least one establishment that won’t be crowded on Friday if this passes.

JIM RIGHEIMER is a Costa Mesa planning commissioner, a local developer and a GOP activist. He may be reached at jim@rigonomics.com.