COUNCIL City to consider ban on smoking

Private employers of 25 or more people would have to develop smoking policies.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- An ordinance banning smoking in city buildings and vehicles and restricting it in many public places appears to be on the fast track for passage by city council this summer.
Councilman Mark Memmer, D-7th, introduced a draft of the ordinance at Wednesday's meeting of council's public health committee, of which he is chairman, and said he'd like to have the full seven-member council vote on it July 21.
Council members Richard Atkinson, R-3rd, Carol Rimedio-Righetti, D-4th, and Rufus Hudson, D-2nd, all said after the meeting that they plan to vote for the measure.
Memmer, who became a councilman six months ago, said he finds it hard to believe how far behind Youngstown is on smoking regulations compared with other cities. "I think it's appalling. It's the year 2004, and we're just addressing this in a city-owned building, city hall," he said.
"This issue is not born from me. It is actually born through the employees, the nonsmoking employees," of the city, Memmer said. Nonsmoking city employees have urged him to bring this measure forward, he said. "Nonsmokers are in the majority, and this isn't something that we should try to run and hide from," he added.
"For the health and safety of all city employees, we need to make it a smoke-free environment. I think we'll probably be able to negotiate some reduced insurance premiums, which will help save the taxpayers money," Hudson said.
About the ban
The ordinance would ban smoking in any building or vehicle owned, leased or controlled by the city, and set fines of $25 for the first offense, $50 for the second offense and $100 for the third offense.
Although the draft calls for the fire chief and health commissioner to designate permitted smoking areas within city buildings, council members interviewed after the meeting said they favored a total ban in city buildings.
Although city hall has been posted with no-smoking signs for many years, Memmer said the smoking ban hasn't been enforced. Employees in the 911 center on the sixth floor and police department personnel on the second floor smoke in stairwells on their respective floors, he acknowledged.
Within 90 days after the ordinance takes effect, private employers with 25 or more employees must adopt written smoking policies addressing the needs of smokers and nonsmokers and designate smoking and nonsmoking areas on their premises.
The ordinance says eating establishments with more than 50 seats are strongly encouraged to designate smoking and nonsmoking areas. Memmer's proposed ordinance doesn't go as far as New York City's law, which bans smoking in bars and restaurants. "The customer is the best judge of that," he said, noting that customers can decide not to revisit establishments they think are too smoky.
The ordinance also bans smoking in a long list of public places and spells out a list of exceptions. It makes the city health department the enforcement agency and says violators are guilty of a minor misdemeanor, meaning they can be fined up to $100.