Re “Marijuana excluded from smoke-free ordinance,” Aug. 20 issue

When I brought the concept for a smoke-free housing ordinance before the city of West Hollywood’s Rent Stabilization Commission (of which I am the current chair) – which then approved it and sent it on to City Council – I knew we might not get a perfect ordinance, but that it was past time for West Hollywood to enact an ordinance to protect the health of our non-smoking residents.

After a nearly three year process, unfortunately, what council approved, while “better than nothing” is a very weak ordinance. Marijuana smoking and vaping of any kind is allowed in residential units. While new tenancies will be smoke free, there is no plan in place as to how long existing smokers will be allowed to continue smoking in their apartments – possibly until they move. There is to be no registry of existing smoking units that potential new tenants could reference before making a determination [whether] they wish to move next door to a smoker. Council said it wants to do a citywide survey about what, if anything, they want to do about those existing smoking tenancies. They really punted on the issue.

We (or at least I) elect our officials to work on our behalf and to make decisions to protect our health. Did the federal government do a survey before they mandated seat belts, removed leaded gasoline from the market, mandated full disclosure of any potentially toxic substances in our food or products we bring into our home? No, they acted in the public’s best interest. Both Mayor Horvath and Mayor Pro Tempore Heilman summed it up neatly at the end of their comments. While there was extensive discussion on the rights of marijuana smokers, there was no discussion on how to help our existing tenants who are being exposed on a daily basis to toxic secondhand smoke in their own homes.

West Hollywood, the creative city, could have done much better. What a shame.

Rob Bergstein

West Hollywood