Editor:
Santa Monica condominium owners take notice; you have nothing to lose but your property rights.
The spirit of Karl Marx is alive and well in Santa Monica.
Bill Bauer’s My Write (“Nanny government not needed”, Jan. 7) regarding the Santa Monica smoking ordinance is right on, but the imposition is even more egregious as applied to those who own their residences. Not only is your right to privacy within your own home under attack, but your right to sell your property to a designated class of buyers (smokers) may be limited. Racial, ethnic-origin and religious restrictions attempting to limit those entitled to purchase property are taboo, but smokers are to be discriminated against by official Santa Monica policy.
Tobacco products are legally available for sale or purchase within Santa Monica, and City Hall no doubt derives monetary benefit from tobacco sales.
I do not smoke, but strongly oppose this attempt to infringe upon the privacy and property rights us Americans should demand be respected.
Beverly Reichel
Santa Monica
Dear Ms. Reichel, you are living in the past if you think a condo owner’s ability to sell their property will be impacted by this ordinance. It’s been decades since cigarette smokers routinely smoked inside their own homes. Potential buyers who happen to smoke will not hestitate one bit to shop for condos in the Santa Monica market.