A Brief History of S.A.F.E. Smokefree Air For Everyone (1992-2010)
S.A.F.E. was founded in 1992 by four individuals who had been injured by to***co smoke where they worked. Esther Schiller filed a Worker’s Compensation case against the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1988 and won. Articles in the Los Angeles Times about the successful conclusion of her case attracted the attention of Shira
Paskin, Al Benson and Andrea Portenier. Andrea was in process of suing her employer for assault and battery in addition to Worker’s Compensation and won both of those cases. The immediate goals of S.A.F.E. were to put a human face on the secondhand smoke statistics by telling the stories of people who had been injured by to***co smoke and to provide peer support, information and referrals to individuals who were in crisis because of secondhand smoke. From February 1993 to June, 1993, S.A.F.E. organized its first ever independent to***co control campaign to convince the L.A. Board of Airport Commissioners to establish a no-smoking policy at LAX and other airports under their jurisdiction. The campaign was successful and bars at the airport became non-smoking a year later. Bolstered by that success, the four founders decided that S.A.F.E. needed to grow and invited Herm Perlmutter and Alan Zovar to join the Board. Herm was employed by the American Cancer Society and Alan was an active volunteer advocate for smokefree workplaces. Both had been involved in the effort to convince the L.A. City Council to adopt a no smoking ordinance for restaurants. Shortly after that, S.A.F.E. began a national campaign to convince Disneyland to adopt a no smoking policy for the sake of protecting children from secondhand to***co smoke and cigarette burns from people walking by with lit ci******es in their hands. The campaign was successful although the Disneyland policy, at least in Anaheim, allowed for several designated areas for smoking within the park. When California’s Smokefree Workplace Law became effective in 1995, the calls for help received by S.A.F.E. started to come from people living in apartments and condominiums. For the first time, people were experiencing smoke-free environments where they worked and in restaurants. (Bars became non smoking in 1998.) But when they returned home to their apartments and condominiums, they smelled their
neighbor’s to***co smoke drifting in via the plumbing, the ventilation system, even through microscopic cracks in walls and floors. They also complained that it was entering their windows and doors from people smoking outside on balconies and patios. Research revealed that landlords and condominium associations had the legal authority to regulate the use of to***co products on their premises, even within units. In addition, state law did not preempt local jurisdictions from regulating smoking in multi-unit housing. In 1995, S.A.F.E. began outreach to apartment owners and apartment trade associations to build the concept of a Smokefree Apartment House Registry, a listing of vacancies in apartment buildings that had adopted no smoking policies. A few apartment associations offered S.A.F.E. free tables at trade shows so that the idea could begin to be marketed. In 1997-98, S.A.F.E. received a grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services to work with bar owners to educate them about the new smokefree bar law. In the year 2000, under the guidance of S.A.F.E.’s newly designated Executive Director, Esther Schiller, the organization was awarded a competitive grant from the California Department of Health to work on the problem of drifting to***co smoke in apartments and condominiums. Central to that grant was the concept of developing a web site which would list vacancies in apartment buildings that had been designated as non-smoking. S.A.F.E. has continued to receive funding for this concept and has recently been awarded a new, 3-year, competitive grant ($150.00 per year) to continue the work of the Registry, to continue to assist tenants and condominium residents who are complaining of exposure to to***co smoke, and to work with community members and policy makers who wish to adopt regulations re to***co use in apartments and condominiums. For the past five years, S.A.F.E. has also been funded by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. This grant has also required S.A.F.E. to to work with community members and policy makers who wish to adopt regulations re to***co use in apartments and condominiums. The state grant provided funding for efforts in the city of Calabasas which culminated in the adoption of a model housing ordinance for apartments in January, 2008. The County grant provided funding for efforts in the city of Glendale. That city council has adopted an ordinance which bans smoking in common areas and on balconies and patios of apartments and condominiums, and is still being reviewed and updated on a regular basis by the city council. Currently, the state grant is funding organizing efforts in South Pasadena and Burbank while the County grant is funding organizing efforts in Santa Monica and Baldwin Park. The new state grant will involve the city of Los Angeles since most complaints from tenants come from that location. The new grant from the county will focus on the city of Hawthorne. In 1996, the S.A.F.E. Board began to contemplate the possibility of becoming an independent non-profit. Instead, the group applied to and was accepted by Community Partners, a non-profit incubator which contracted to be S.A.F.E.’s fiscal sponsor. We have remained with Community Partners to date, benefitting from their financial management of our grants, our personnel, and all of our financial affairs. Community Partners staff participates in preparing grants for submission, (They do not write the scope of work or the budget), signs all contracts, monitors budgets and submits invoices. The S.A.F.E. Board has become an Advisory Board and is sheltered by the legal protections afforded by the relationship with Community Partners. It has been a beneficial relationship with the proviso that although Community Partners provides funding until grant invoices are paid, over-spending must be compensated by the organization and/or the Executive Director. At the end of June, 2010, for the first time, there were shortages in both grants. The shortage in the State grant was funded by S.A.F.E. and the shortage in the County grant was funded by the Executive Director. In 1996, prior to applying to Community Partners, the S.A.F.E. Board made some decisions regarding bylaws. It was decided that the number of Directors on the Board would be not less than 9 nor more than 15. A quorum would consist of a majority of current members of the Board. Regular meetings would be held every four months on a Saturday morning in April, July, October and January. The Annual Meeting was designated as April. Officers would consist of a President, a Vice President for Public Policy, Second Vice-President, and an Executive Secretary/Acting Treasurer. The officers were to serve for one or two years. Andrea Portenier accepted the position of President, Herm Perlmutter accepted the position of Vice President for Public Policy, Al Benson became the Second Vice President, and Esther Schiller became the Executive Secretary/Acting Treasurer. These positions have changed very little in the intervening years except that Esther Schiller was designated Executive Director. Members of the Advisory Board have written letters for fund raising purposes, have raised funds from other organizations, and have contributed funds themselves to Community Partners for the benefit of S.A.F.E. Contributions are tax deductible. Members of the Board have also continued in their own advocacy efforts for the benefit of S.A.F.E. Andrea Portenier has been particularly active representing S.A.F.E. to the Framework Convention on the Treaty for To***co Control. Members of the Advisory Board have also brainstormed as to what provisions should be in an ordinance to regulate smoking in multi-unit housing. These brain storming sessions have led to the model ordinance developed recently by the Technical Assistance Legal Center. Community Partners requires an active Advisory Board. The Board’s officers have the responsibility of evaluating the work of the Executive Director. The entire Advisory Board sets policy for the future goals and efforts of S.A.F.E. Reviewed: August 5, 2011 by Esther Schiller
