People Ban: IA Ottumwa

Parks board to hear smoke-free suggestion

August 29, 2007
Jill Kasparie

Now that Kirksville’s smoking ban has started up, some folks in Ottumwa have a similar anti-smoking goal.

They want to put the fire out on smokers in specific places in the City of Bridges.

“My goal is to make the parks in Ottumwa tobacco free,” Tobacco Prevention Specialists, Cindy Glasford, said.

Glasford, a Tobacco Prevention Specialists from the Southern Iowa Economic Development Association or SIEDA, is starting her effort to create a smoke-free park system.

“It will help out in the parks for many several reasons, Adults need to set the examples, so that’s going to show the young people that smoking is not okay,” Glasford said.

She’ll take her plan to the Parks Advisory Board meeting on Tuesday.

Board member, Robert LaPoint, said it’s all in the very beginning stages. He said the board can’t make any decisions, they can only make recommendations to the city council about possible actions.

Lapoint said he has a lot of questions.

“Just what are the limits at the Jimmy Jones Shelter? how it will affect the events over there? Just how [big] the scope is and what they’re going to ask and how we’re going to enforce this ban,” LaPoint said.

Folks in the park had mixed feelings about the potential smoking ban.

“I think it’s a good idea because smoking bothers me,” Ottumwa Resident, Ruth Hall, said.

“We’re out in the air and I think if other people don’t like it, they should go some where else,” Ottumwa Resident, Anna Olson, said.

Glasford started her park smoke-free initiative when baseball season started earlier this Spring.

“I started by going around asking them if we could put the signs up, I had tobacco free signs, a lot of them were happy about that,” Glasford said.

Parks Advisory Board members are encouraging residents to attend the first meeting on the issue, which takes place Tuesday at 4:30 in room 108 at City Hall.
?

?