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Published on 12/29/1997 All articles from this issue

New laws affecting smokers, utility users in '98

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By Bruce Barton / Town Crier Staff Writer

The year 1998 begins with a whole slew of new state laws, many of which will have a direct impact on Los Altos residents.

One of the most publicized changes involves restaurants with bars in which smokers congregate. A new law in effect outlaws indoor smoking totally. Before, smokers were confined to the bar.

"It initially is going to hurt a lot of neighborhood bars," said Bob Clarke, owner of the Los Altos Bar & Grill on Main Street. The Bar & Grill, along with Mac's American Grill, are two downtown establishments that stand to be hurt by the new law.

"My dinner and lunch business will increase and will hopefully offset (the loss of) business at the bar," Clarke said.

He plans to heat and cover his outdoor patio to accommodate his smoking customers. "Thank God I have a patio," Clarke said.

Also of interest are a number of new consumer protection bills.

State senator Byron Sher, who represents the 11th district which includes Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, Mountain View and Palo Alto, authored two bills in this category that went into law.

SB 448 prohibits the release of the name, credit history, utility usage data, home address or telephone number of utility customers of local public agencies. The bill, sponsored by the City of Palo Alto, will ensure privacy of those records, according to Palo Alto City Attorney Ariel Callone. Palo Alto, which runs its own utilities separate from Pacific Gas & Electric Co., has 22,000 customers.

"They're not public records, but there was a question to us as to what was accessible," Callone said. One motivation for the bill, he said, was "personal safety and security" of the customers.

Callone cited a case in Tennessee in which confidential information from utility records was used to track down and kill informants.

Sher's SB 1305 requires disclosure of specific information to residential and small-commercial electrical customers including accurate information on the generation and sources of their electricity.

This bill, Sher said at a Los Altos Town Hall meeting in November, comes in the wake of open competition for selling electricity, also effective this year.

Among other consumer protection laws in effect, AB 156 makes identity theft - when a thief acquires your ID and assumes your identity for fraudulent purposes - a crime.

AB 593 requires all eggs processed and sold in California to have a "sell-by" date, a "keep refrigerated" notice and a plant of origin identification.

With regard to protections for seniors, AB 456 requires that accurate information is given to seniors who are considering a mortgage, that enables them to borrow against their equity and receive monthly payments during retirement. The bill is meant to address instances of senior homeowners being defrauded by unscrupulous sellers of mortgage services.