The Sun
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Smoking law grows cloudier with Assembly decision

By Steve Enders

Confusion among area bar owners is increasing because of a possible change to the state's new no-smoking law, as well as a newly resuscitated city ordinance.

Two weeks ago, the State Assembly passed AB297, proposing yet another moratorium on the statewide smoke-free workplace law that went into effect Jan. 1.

A backlash over the smoke-free workplace law from bar owners around the state prompted lawmakers to draft the new bill. Bar owners say the ban is hurting business because smokers are now choosing not to go to bars.

The original smoke-free workplace law is actually an amendment to the California Labor Code, and is supposed to benefit employees at bars and restaurants who breathe secondhand smoke, supporters say.

The new bill, AB297, proposes that gaming clubs, taverns and bars again be exempt from the smoke-free workplace law until the year 2001.

AB297 hasn't yet passed the state Senate or been signed by the governor, so it hasn't taken effect. Gov. Wilson is expressing support for the bill and says he will sign it if it reaches his desk.

Possible changes to the state law aren't the only thing confusing bar owners around Sunnyvale.

They and their customers are being approached by code enforcement officials who are armed with a 1997 city ordinance that says it bans smoking outright in any bar in Sunnyvale.

The ordinance simply states that "smoking is prohibited and is unlawful in enclosed bars."

Tina Brammall, part-owner of Beefy's Cabin, says she's shocked to learn of the ordinance.

Brammall was visited by Public Safety officers and neighborhood preservation specialists last week, who told her smoking in Sunnyvale bars is illegal.

"Why didn't anyone come and tell us [about the city ordinance]?" Brammall asks.

During their visit, Brammall says, she tried telling the officers that she thought her bar was exempt from the state law. She says the officers told her it didn't matter, because the local ordinance takes precedent over the state law.

"We don't want to break the law," Brammall says, adding that county health department officials presented her with a form to fill out to apply for exemption from the state law, and she's now confused over which law to follow.

Brammall, her husband and her two brothers own and operate Beefy's Cabin, and say it fits into a loophole stating that owner-operated bars are exempt from complying with the anti-smoking law.

Now Brammall is scrambling to figure out what she and her bar needs to do to comply with whatever law she needs to comply with.

According to City Attorney Valerie Armento, state law says cities are allowed to have ordinances that are more stringent than state laws.

"The question here is, does the city want to have a more stringent law than the state's?" Armento said.

The City Attorney's office, she added, is looking into the matter. It will be up to the City Council, she said, to decide whether or not they want to look into changing the city ordinance.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 11, 1998.
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