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# Smoking sting conducted by City Hall workers
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/smoking-sting-conducted-by-city-hall-workers/
- Published: 2003-09-30T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:00:58.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Government & Politics, Main St, #archive-import

*Five bars investigated; none violated state law*

A handful of City Hall workers spent Friday night bar hopping in Santa Monica, sniffing out how local bar and club managers are handling the 1998 ban on smoking.

Five popular spots were hit in the undercover sting — from J.P.’s Bar and Grill on Wilshire Boulevard and the Circle Bar on Main Street to 217 on Broadway, Gotham Hall on the Third Street Promenade and Shane on Main Street.

Each of the five establishments was given a clean bill of health by investigators, Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky said, adding that City Hall workers were not drinking alcohol while on the job from 9 p.m. to midnight.

The statewide law makes it illegal for patrons to smoke in bars and for business owners to allow it. A first offense costs $270, second offenses cost $540 and a third offense can be considered a federal crime, punishable by tens of thousands of dollars in fines and the loss of one’s business license, Radinsky said.

About a dozen citations have been handed out in Santa Monica since 1998\. Radinsky said although the law allows for it, smokers themselves have never been targeted in Santa Monica, which was the first city in California to actively police the smoking ban.

“It took some time before a lot of businesses and a number of the residents really accepted the reality of the law,” Radinsky said. “It appears clear by now that the public psyche has accepted this as a fact of life and we can see all around us the signs of it, including the ashtrays outside, and the people standing out in front of businesses or in patios.”

> “It appears clear by now that the public psyche has accepted this as a fact of life and we can see all around us the signs of it, including the ashtrays outside, and the people standing out in front of businesses or in patios.” — — ADAM RADINSKY Deputy City Attorney

But despite that ashtrays are put in front of area bars and restaurants, it’s a practice that’s still illegal. That’s because placing ashtrays on the sidewalks is an obstacle to the public right of way, according to City Hall documents.

The City Council is considering an ordinance that would make it legal for objects like ashtrays to be placed in the public right of way. The ordinance also would require bars and restaurants to use them, said Joan Akins, a manager in the environmental and public works division of City Hall.

“First of all, crushed up cigarettes don’t look really great,” she said. “But mostly because they flow down the storm drains and into the ocean.”

Akins said despite that it’s illegal, bars and restaurant owners that do put ashtrays in front of their establishments are not cited by City Hall but simply informed of the law. She said if the ordinance is approved, City Hall would probably require a specific type of ashtray that is not a fire hazard and cannot be used as a trash can, similar to outdoor ashtrays already popular in Europe and Australia.

Meanwhile, Santa Monica also is cracking down on smokers who light up in area parks. Signs are in place and officials have begun enforcing the ban, City Hall spokeswoman Judy Rambeau said, adding that the violation carries a $675 penalty.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 30, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/093003.pdf?ref=smdp.com)