Dodge City this month passed an ordinance banning smoking in many public areas, and Manhattan residents will vote on a no-smoking ordinance on Nov. 4.
It will be at least spring, however, before Emporians could be asked to vote on banning smoking in public places throughout the city.
Lyon County Clerk Karen Hartenbower said the time period between now and election day is too short to sandwich in an additional vote.
“We like to have 90 days,” Hartenbower said. “The city had contacted me about an advisory election and I said, ‘No, I don’t do advisory elections. They’re very expensive, and even though the city would pay for the ballots and external costs, that doesn’t pay for (worker and other internal costs), and the secretary of state advises against doing that.”
Hartenbower sent out federal ballots to people living outside the United States last Friday, as mandated by federal law.
Hartenbower said that state laws dictate certain protocols to have an ordinance vote put on the ballot.
“They had to go through so many publications and such; they couldn’t get the ordinance as it was published until October,” she said.
A vote on a no-smoking ordinance could be done in the spring, preferably in the general election, to avoid being forced to hold a primary election if the numbers of candidates for other offices do not force a primary, she said.
The commission could choose to have the ordinance put to a vote, or a group could bring in a petition with signatures that would need to be validated by the clerk’s office before it could be put on the ballot.
The Clean Air Manhattan organization in Manhattan, Kan., chose the latter route, according to assistant city manager Jason Hilger.
Hilger said the group had approximately 1,600 valid signatures on its petition, which will cause the issue to be on the November ballot.
“They developed the ordinance as a group and brought it before the commission,” Hilger said. “The commission actually voted to deny it, but by statute they have to put it on the ballot. ... We’ve dealt with this issue in the past and never been able to pass anything.”
No-smoking ordinances that had some exemptions for smoking earlier had been turned down in Manhattan, and the current proposal is more restrictive than the earlier versions, he said. There are no exemptions for certain businesses or circumstances, unlike a no-smoking ordinance adopted last week in Dodge City.
“It even restricts (smoking) in, like, patios and outdoor areas within a business,” Hilger said. “So if you have outdoor eating area, it wouldn’t allow smoking there, either. It’s really all places of employment.”
Smoking outside would not be allowed within 20 feet of the door of a business or public building.
Business owners and individuals who did not want a no-smoking ordinance were relatively quiet about the proposal in the beginning, he said. Now, they are beginning to mobilize in an effort to stop its passage.
“They’re kind of doing that now because with it being on the ballot, I guess that’s where they’re going to use their efforts,” he said. “They really didn’t do anything too organized as the citizens were coming in.”
Some against the smoking ban want businesses to choose whether or not they will be smoking or non-smoking, then leave further choices to the public.
“Customers are going to make their own decisions, too,” Hilger said. “That’s kind of the point they’ve made, too. It’s tough to gauge where the community will end up.”
Dodge City’s ordinance allows for some exemptions to the prohibition of smoking in public places.
Smoking would be allowed under these circumstances:
• any un-enclosed, outdoor area at least 10 feet from any building entrance or exit.
• owner-designated hotel or motel rooms
• private non-business residences
• private clubs that require paid membership and also comply with signage provisions of the ordinance
• smoking areas designated by owners or managers of public places.
Those designated smoking areas would be inspected by the city for compliance with the ordinance. Designated smoking areas must:
• be enclosed on all sides by solid, impermeable walls or windows extending from floor to ceiling with self-closing doors or entryway constructed to minimize the effect of tobacco smoke within the remainder of the facility
• be posted as a designated smoking area
• have access restricted to employees, customers, clients or venders
• have more air exhausted from the area than directly supplied by heating, ventilation and air conditioning
• have a ventilation system that exhausts air from the room directly to the outdoors
• be in an area that no one would be required to enter or pass through against their will, when occupied by smokers.
Smoking would not be allowed in such designated smoking areas until they had been inspected and verified as in compliance.
Enforcement in Dodge City will be done by the building inspector or his or her representative. If the need arises, the Dodge City Police Department or other city departments could be called upon to aid in enforcement.
ratdog (anonymous) says...
At every turn, ask the question: "Can you name ONE place in Emporia, Kansas where there is ANY significant exposure to secondhand smoke that is not easily avoidable by exercising the most minimal amount of commonsense, personal choice and freedom?"
It's that simple! EVERYTHING else is unnecessary..............
September 27, 2008 at 2:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )