Partnering with landlords and tenants to get the smoke out: San francisco's smoking disclosure policy as a “common ground” approach to advancing public health

The San Francisco Department of Public Health Tobacco-Free Project focuses on systems-level change to reduce the burden of tobacco use in the community. A lingering, intractable problem is exposure to secondhand smoke by non-smoking tenants in often crowded urban multi-unit housing complexes. In moving toward a tobacco-free community, efforts have been made to partner public health with content experts in the field of housing, particularly tenant-serving organizations and landlord trade groups. In considering smoke-free housing issues, property owners/managers can sometimes be hesitant or fearful of imposing new rules at their properties. Likewise, tenants are often concerned that new regulations will restrict access to housing or undermine existing tenant protections such as San Francisco's rent control ordinance.

From 2010-2012 a unique partnership between the Department of Public Health, the San Francisco Apartment Association, and Dolores Street Community Services was developed to create a dialogue around common ground on the very real issue of drifting smoke in multi-unit housing. After a myriad of data collection activities (surveying landlords and tenants about the drifting smoke issue, researching existing regulations on air quality, and collecting input from a broad group of constituents), the group met a clear consensus on the tenets of a policy that would disclose where smoking is allowed in multi-unit housing properties. That common ground approach led to a strong housing policy concept endorsed by public health, while also supported by two groups that sometimes differ in opinions on housing policy issues.