The City Council voted Tuesday to completely remove a proposed smoking ban from its agenda.
After six months of debate, the issue appears to be snuffed, even after the City Council expressed its intent to take a comprehensive smoking ban to a vote of the people during the Nov. 5 election.
The ordinance to place the issue on the ballot was up for first reading at the council’s regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, which would have advanced it to a final vote at the June 10 meeting. Mayor Bill Falkner and council members Pat Jones, P.J. Kovac, Barbara LaBass, Jeff Penland and Joyce Starr voted on a motion to remove the item.
Before the ordinance was read, Mr. Penland asked the rest of the council to consider leaving the decision to go smoke-free up to property owners. He said he believes the council needs to continue its discussion before making a decision, and perhaps provide incentives for bar owners to go smoke free.
“I just can’t vote for an issue that treats the casino different,” he said, later adding that his decision was reinforced after hearing from casino manager Craig Travers, who spoke out against a ban because it would reduce gaming revenue for the city, county and state.
Mr. Travers’ statement reinforced what many council members had questioned during the six-month process — whether a ban that excluded the gaming floor really was a matter of public health or of money.
Mr. Travers warned the council that if the St. Jo Frontier Casino was forced to go smoke-free, the state would sell the parent company’s license to a community that had no ban in place. He also warned that a smoking ban would decrease revenues by at least 25 percent, and in turn would halt all discussions of moving Downtown.
“The whole purpose of gaming is to provide tax revenue to the state,” he said. “ … This is not a health issue when it comes to the casino. It’s a business issue.”
Councilman Byron Myers presented the council with an alternative ordinance that would exclude the casino, but ban smoking in the rest of the community. It’s a compromise he said he is willing to do for the “financial health” of the city and the county.
No motion was ever made to consider that ordinance, however.
Proponents of a smoking ban said Tuesday the decision will not deter them from their fight for public health. Mary Attebury, a member of Clean Air St. Joe, said the council is damaging itself by flip-flopping on its decisions and not providing what the majority of the community wanted.
“Certainly we’re disappointed that the council hasn’t taken and considered the feedback that they received over these past months and done what they should have done,” she said. “There will be a reaction from the community I’m sure. This is not over.”
It’s unclear whether the council will take this issue under consideration again.
Originally written By Kim Norvell St. Joseph News-Pres
