Rarely can being found in contempt of court be considered a good thing, but for Frank Schnarrs — owner of Frankie’s Sports Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue Southeast in Olympia — it may at least be a positive sign. Having fought the 2005 smoking ban since it took effect late that year, Schnarrs seems poised for a rare victory against the antismoking movement — albeit not the victory he’d originally envisioned.



According to the poorly written and conceived 2005 ban on smoking in public places, a “private workplace inside a public space” can be exempt from the law. That’s the way the smoking ban is written, and it was these words that Schnarrs took into consideration when creating his private “Friends of Frankie” smoking room, which operates on the second floor of his establishment — well beyond 25 feet of any public space. Until Monday, people were allowed access to the Friends of Frankie room by paying a dollar-per-day fee, signing into a log book, and slapping on a Friends of Frankie sticker badge. Though drinks were served in the Friends of Frankie room, they were delivered by volunteers.



Monday, June 9, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks found Schnarrs in contempt of court, ruling the Friends of Frankie room violated the 2005 smoking ban because of the dollar fee charged to get in. Hicks referred to it in court as Frankie’s “Achilles heel,” saying that by allowing anyone access to the room for a dollar it was actually a public space.



However, Hicks’ ruling leaves significant room for compliance, and by removing the dollar charge and handling a few minor ventilation issues, Schnarrs and his attorney, Olympia’s Shawn Newman, believe they’re on the cusp of victory.



That’s not to say they feel good about the process or that the law is written in a manner that makes it easy for private business owners to comply.



“The bottom line is the state smoking ban is confusing,” says Newman. “State enforcement officers admit it’s confusing. The law is supposed to be clear. If you have a law that’s not clear, it violates due process. This is a violation of due process.”



Newman says his client has done his best to work with the state Department of Health while establishing his smoking room in accordance with the law, but doing so has been nearly impossible.



“It’s the oppression of the state,” says Newman. “My client has tried to work within the system, and work with authorities. It seems to me they just don’t want it to happen.”  



One of the most questionable moments of the Frankie’s smoking ban escapade came recently, according to Newman, when instead of requesting a search warrant to check for compliance inside the Friends of Frankie’s room (as a sign on the door indicated was needed for health department officials to gain entry to the private club), the health department instead sent out e-mails to employees soliciting for “undercover” work — e-mails delivered to anyone from secretaries to temps.



“I was flabbergasted,” says Newman.



Hicks’ contempt of court ruling means Schnarrs will have 10 days from the filing of the order to seek a county review process for his Friends of Frankie room to determine whether its design meets state laws.



In the future, expect Frankie to be more selective with what friends he allows into his smoking room, expect the dollar charge to go bye-bye, and expect Newman and Schnarrs to continue the good fight against a law written in a way that induces nothing but confusion and failure on the part of honest business owners. Whether you agree with the smoking ban or not, allowing the health department to make the rules up as they go isn’t in anyone’s best interest.