Over the years as the public has become much more educated and aware of the dangers of second hand smoke weve been getting a lot more calls with tenant complaints about smoking and in particular weve seen a lot of people who have called like i remember we got a call from a mother with a brand new infant, seniors with lots of chronic diseases, people with hiv, people with cancer and heart disease, who had just moved into their apartment and had no idea they were going to be exposed to second hand smoke that was drifting from other units into their apartment and they were totally at a loss of what they could do. This is basically a right to know ordinance. This would inform prospective renters where smoking is allowed so they can make an informed decision and choose to decide on an all terp tiff if they dont want to be exposed to the second hand smoke. And supervisor mar, i think you talked a little bit about the 2006 Surgeon Generals report. One thick that was in the report, even short
Pass it on to the entire board with your full support. Thank you. Next speaker. Good afternoon, supervisors, i am ben chafer, i work with kendra at the sro collaborative. When we were conducting the surveys in the summer and fall in 2011 we found the majority of people, overwhelmingly, 4 out of 5 were in favor of the disclosure policy and even confirmed smokers were in support of the policy because they were concerned about possibly contributing to go Neighbors Health issues. Basically the sense i got was they wanted it make informed choices to protect their rights as well as other peoples rights in the arena of smoking. As a smoker personally i believe this policy is very important to the community because it would provide tenants both in the private apartment and the sro community to make informed decisions based on an Important Health issue. In conclusion wed like you to pass the legislation both to mitigate concern and confusion citywide about the smoking history of apartments and
Commenters, Public Comment is closed. Colleagues, are there any questions or comments . Then let me ask i think its City Attorney john gibner, we have some amendments, is that right, for this item, or was it the next item, mr. Gibner. Deputy City Attorney john gibner. I believe on this item you have written amendments, on the next item you have written aamendments and some additional amendments id like to make orally. These are not substantive ones that change the numbers and each of you has a copy of them so if there are no questions on those amendments, actually im just wondering if my colleagues had any comments. Supervisor wiener. Thank you. Thank you, chairman mar for authoring this legislation and for all your work around second hand smoke issues. Im very supportive of this legislation. We need to have Public Places where everyone is able to use those places and you dont have some people doing things that make it harder for other people to be there. I think this moves us in that
Aliana caruco from the department of Public Health and desiree for drafting the ordinance. With that, id like to ask aliana caruco to make a public presentation. Good afternoon, supervisors, my name is aliana caruca, im with the department of Public Health and im tobacco free director so im representing the department of Public Health today. This policy would inform prospective tenants of which units have been designated as smoking optional. Supervisor mar, youve already basically explained what the ordinance would require and i would just like to add that over the years as the public has become much more educated and aware of the dangers of second hand smoke weve been getting a lot more calls with tenant complaints about smoking and in particular weve seen a lot of people who have called like i remember we got a call from a mother with a brand new infant, seniors with lots of chronic diseases, people with hiv, people with cancer and heart disease, who had just moved into their apartme
Organizations in supporting this to create Stronger Public Health Policies and to limit second hand smoke in multi unit buildings. The hazards as we said before of second hand smoke is well documented. Theres no safe exposure level, its cancercausing, its toxic, it leads to thousands and thousands of deaths each year and by limiting access to second hand smoke, its protecting peoples health. Also, when people live in close proximity to units where there are smokers in apartment buildings or multi unit buildings, they are in danger of the smoke seeping into or kind of coming into their units or common areas as well and this can result in prospective tenants really being exposed to hazardous air in their buildings. I think this is an important measure, too, that will really help prospective tenants finding out more where they may be exposed to second hand smoke but its usually after they sign a lease right now where people find this out. So this is a measure developed jointly by the miss