Symposium on Smoke-Free Apartment Buildings Held in Los Angeles

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The "Smoke Free Choice" symposium will be held today in Los Angeles to address the increasing demand for non-smoking sections in apartment buildings and completely smoke-free complexes.

The "Smoke Free Choice" symposium will be held today in Los Angeles to address the increasing demand for non-smoking sections in apartment buildings and completely smoke-free complexes.


The symposium is being held at the Davidson Executive Conference Center on the campus of the University of Southern California.


Among the speakers at the conference will be Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla, who has sponsored a motion requiring a percentage of new multi-unit affordable housing complexes to be non-smoking.


Padilla was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in June 1999, becoming the third-youngest person ever elected to City office. He was re-elected to serve a full four-year term after running unopposed in the April 2001 elections, and was first elected to serve a two-year term as City Council President in July 2001, and was re-elected to that post in 2003.


Paul Knepprath of the American Lung Association will present and discuss recent surveys that have shown the increasing demand for smoke-free housing.


Nearly two-thirds of Los Angeles residents live in apartments. In a recent survey of California apartment dwellers, 82% indicated a preference for non-smoking apartment buildings.


Wellman Realty, a real estate company that owns several non-smoking apartments in the Los Angeles area, will be represented at the symposium by Christina McKay, Property Manager.


Other speakers include Mary Silverstein, Vice President of Community Development Banking for Bank of America and Michelle Matisse, a woman who became extremely ill because of the second-hand smoke from the apartment right below hers.


Source: American Lung Association; City of Los Angeles; Business Wire