Webb City smoking ban heads to voters

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September 7, 2010

By Emily Younker news@joplinglobe.com The Joplin Globe Tue Sep 07, 2010, 08:55 PM CDT

WEBB CITY, Mo. — After the City Council failed Tuesday to give preliminary approval to a citywide ban on smoking indoors in public places, Webb City voters will decide in April whether they want the city to implement the ban.

On the motion to send the proposed ban to the April ballot, council members were split: Doug Goodall, Don Darby, Jerry Fisher and Gene Mense approved the motion, while Don Meredith, Brandon Wilson, Gina Monson and Ray Edwards voted to keep the ordinance off the ballot.

Casting the deciding “yes” vote was Mayor John Biggs.

“I have given this a lot of thought,” Biggs said, moments before casting his vote. “I can’t in good conscience make a decision that’s going to encourage smoking in life.”

The ordinance would prohibit smoking in places that are open to the public or serve as a place of work, including restaurants, bars, office buildings, city-owned buildings, indoor entertainment and recreation venues, health-care centers, and public transportation vehicles.

Smoking would be allowed in stores that primarily sell tobacco products and in buildings used by dues-paying membership associations. Rooms used for private social functions and private, enclosed offices could be exempted as long as they have separate ventilation systems. In some cases, up to half of a restaurant or bar’s patio area could be exempted from the ban as well.

People found in violation of the ordinance could be penalized with a fine of up to $500.

Despite more than 30 people in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting — with a majority saying they supported the smoke-free ordinance — council members disapproved the ordinance on a preliminary reading, with Goodall, Darby and Mense voting in favor of the plan.

“I think it’s our responsibility to look out for our citizens,” Darby said. “It comes down to a health issue. I don’t want people smoking next to me.”

Wilson, who has indicated his disapproval of the ban since it was brought before the council, said he doesn’t like the idea of a city government dictating business practices to private business owners.

“It’s not our place to tell people what they can and can’t do in their own business,” he said.

Fisher, who said he generally doesn’t patronize businesses that allow smoking, agreed with Wilson and was one of the first council members to voice support for a public vote.

“I’d like to see every business be nonsmoking, but I think that’s their business, not ours,” he said. “I don’t know of anything more fair than to put it to a vote of the voters.”

Eleven people — many of whom belong to Smoke-Free Webb City, a group of residents pushing for the smoking ban — spoke in favor of the ordinance during a public forum at the beginning of Tuesday’s meeting.

Jason Stark, whose wife, Krista, has been one of the most vocal proponents for a smoking ban, urged the council to adopt the ordinance.

“My family and I, we eat, shop, live and play in Webb City,” he said. “We want a healthy, smoke-free community for our family to grow up in.”

No one spoke against the ordinance, though at least one person in attendance stood when council members asked for a showing of people who disapproved of it.

Smoke-Free Webb City, which falls under the umbrella group Clean Air Project, has been the catalyst behind the ordinance, first appearing before the City Council a month ago about the possibility of drafting a smoking ban.

Representatives from the Clean Air Project, which is based at Missouri Southern State University, also have approached the Joplin and Carl Junction city councils about adopting similar ordinances in their communities.

Joplin council members have scheduled a public hearing on the matter. The Carl Junction City Council has not publicly acted on the issue, though the Chamber of Commerce recently took an informal poll of residents on its Facebook page.

Existing bans

The Missouri cities of Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia, Springfield, Kirksville, Maryville and Warrensburg have indoor smoking bans.

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Webb City smoking ban heads to voters

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