Kokua Line

By June Watanabe

Thursday, March 12, 1998

‘No means no’ but these
smokers are determined

I work in the American Savings Bank building on Waipahu Depot Road. There is a company on the same floor whose employees are allowed to smoke.

The property manager has talked to them, but they don't comply. The whole floor reeks of cigarette smoke. The air conditioning units are connected and I'm beginning to get sick. What can be done?

The property manager for the building is well aware of your complaint.

The problem is catching the culprits -- who deny they are smoking -- in the act, said Miles Kamimura, executive vice president of Monroe & Friedlander, which manages the building.

A city ordinance that took effect last June says there shall be no smoking in indoor workplaces, except restaurants, bars, private clubs, hotel rooms and homes.

"No means no," said Julian Lipsher, coordinator for the state Department of Health's Tobacco Prevention and Education Office. (His office has nothing to do with enforcement but can provide "advice to people on strategy." Call 586-4613.)

Violators not only are breaking city law but also the rules and regulations of the building, which typically state that tenants have to comply with all laws, he said.

Enforcement lies with police, but again, the problem is in catching the smoker in the act.

"Most of the time, these issues are resolved at a much lower level (with building managers), which they should be," Lipsher said.

Kamimura said, "We're very concerned about the health of all of our tenants," adding that he worked with Lipsher and others in helping to develop a workplace no-smoking ordinance.

"I don't think there's a lot of doubt" that the suspected people are smoking, he said. "If we could find some documented proof, we will take action."

In the meantime, "We just have to continue monitoring and see if we can find incidences where it's happening. That's really the practical problem. The law is clear, but we have the challenge of enforcement."

FYI: The city Building Department is charged with making sure proper no-smoking signs are installed, which you indicated is not the problem.

A building inspector pointed out that smoking is allowed in "a private office," one in which "the public can't just walk in."

Generally, it's an office screened by an outside secretary or receptionist, he said.

"But if it's a general office where you walk in and there's a reception area, then the whole area cannot be smoking," he said.

Recently, every afternoon, I've seen someone selling flowers from a pickup truck on Bishop Street. Is it legal to sell on a public street from a parking stall?

If an itinerant vendor or peddler has a general excise license from the state, he/she is allowed to peddle on a public street or highway -- barring specific locations spelled out in the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu (Sec. 29-6.2) -- for no more than 15 minutes in one location. That vendor cannot sell within 300 feet of that location within three hours.

The city requires an annual peddlers license fee of $27.50, with notable exceptions: peddlers of newspapers of general circulation; and for peddlers of fish, fresh fruit, leis, cut flowers or vegetables or anybody aged 60 or older.

If you suspect a violation, call police at 911.

Auwe

To drivers who don't use their turn signals when making lane changes or making turns. Auwe also to drivers who "overuse" their signals -- signaling when they are next to you and you can't see them signaling. They cut in front, forcing you to brake hard. -- R.H.