Another Ban Failed: IN Jay County

Jay County smoking ban voted down
January 14, 2008
by Sam Thomas

A smoking ban is not in Jay County’s future this year, as the Jay County Commissioners voted Monday morning not to establish a county wide ban.? Local health officer Dr. Steve Myron, an MD at Preferred Family Physicians of Jay County, helped propose the ban to the county commissioners.?

“I’m a little disappointed because our intentions were to protect children; the commission just couldn’t bring it to a vote,” said Myron.

The smoking ban would not affect bars or privatized clubs, mainly common areas serving large public interests, such as restaurants.? According to Myron, the health department will work with area businesses on an ordinance to place stickers in their windows to inform patrons that smoking is not permitted in those establishments.?

Jay County Commissioner Faron Parr explained that the three commissioners felt that the time wasn’t right to “step on people’s toes” by enacting a ban.? Business owners put their hard-earned money into their establishments, and it isn’t the commissioners that should tell them how to operate.

The smoking ban issue will not be brought up again in 2008 but has a possibility of being revisited in 2009.

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Smoking ban to be discussed at Jay hearing

July 16, 2007
By RIC ROUTLEDGE, ricroutledge@hotmail.com

PORTLAND – Smoke is sure to be in the air — at least figuratively — at a public hearing set for 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Jay County Courthouse.

Proponents on each side of the issue will have the opportunity to tell the county commissioners why smoking in public buildings should or should not be banned in the county.

It’s strictly an information gathering session, according to Milo Miller Jr., president of the Jay County Commissioners. No decisions will be made that night.

In fact, the commissioners are not obligated to ever act on the issue. Any future action would depend on public pressure, he admitted.

“If we have a hundred people there and 99 want it one way or the other, we would have to look at it pretty strongly,” he said.

Supporters on both sides are expected to speak up.

Rod Renbarger, owner of Tom and Rod’s Steak House, said he will be there to defend his business.

“I think it (a smoking ban) will hurt my business,” he said this week. “I don’t twist people’s arm to come in, so why should they tell me how to run my business?”

Not only would he lose customers but he would also lose cigarette sales, he said.

Renbarger has seen a recent gain in business from residents living in nearby Ohio where an all-encompassing smoking ban was recently adopted.

“They’ve opened up the door and asked if we allow smoking, and then turn around to talk to the people in their vehicle,” he says. “Then they come in.

“I’m a smoker and I know it’s bad for me and I know I should quit. But don’t tell me that I have to quit,” he added. “What’s next? Are they going to tell you how many kids you can have or how many cars you can have?”

But the actual loss of business as tied to a smoking ban is a debatable point, according to Pam Holmes, owner of the IDC Restaurant in Pennville.

After several discussions with her husband, she banned smoking in her restaurant on April 1 due to personal health problems.

“It was a big decision. My husband wanted to do it a long time ago, but I kept putting him off. I was scared of losing business,” she said.

“But that first week we had people coming from far away stating that they had seen our ad and that they had to come and check us out,” she said. “They were so tickled they said they would keep coming back because we made that decision. I’ve seen a lot of new faces in the restaurant because we banned smoking.”

Holmes said she is “tickled to death” about how the decision has worked out for her business.

“I have a lot of people who say it’s nice to walk in and smell food, and to smell the pies baking in the morning,” she said.

And the restaurant is cleaner, too. “We don’t have to wash the smoke residue, the yellow stuff, off of the wall any more,” she added.

Renbarger says that at the very least the decision should not be left up to the three commissioners. Instead, the issue should be put on the November ballot so that every voter in the county could help make the final decision providing, he adds, “that it is explained very clearly so that everyone knows for sure which way they are voting. Ohio’s ballot was very confusing and they are going to redo it because people complained about it.”

According to Miller, while none of the three commissioners are smokers, (he gave it up when cigarettes went to 35 cents a pack) the group is inclined to “let business owners run their own businesses their way, and if you don’t want to patronize a smoking place that is your choice.”

The commissioners did ban smoking on county property a few years ago, Miller said. That includes the courthouse, the county jail and other properties.

Since then the Jay County Hospital and the Jay school district have gone smoke free.

“If parents don’t want their kids exposed to smoke they ought to watch where they take their kids,” Miller said. “It’s their responsibility to take care of the family, not the governments.”

Contact Jay and Blackford county reporter Ric Routledge at (765) 728-5241.