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I received this announcement that a local group has formed to put a smoking ban ordinance on the ballot. Here is the message unedited (except bold lettering added).
Dear all:
For those of you that I haven't met, I am a physician that lives in Monona and I am passionate about getting Monona smoke free, I wanted to personally welcome you all to this effort and let you know what was decided at the last meeting on Wednesday night. First, Jim Keck and I have agreed to be co-chairs to lead this effort. A big thank you to Liz Sanger from Smoke Free Wisconsin and Ryan Sheehan from UW Public health and Tobacco Free Dane County Coalition who have pledged support and their advice has been invaluable!
It was also decided at the meeting to move forward with collecting signatures with a goal of around 800. We chose to move quickly given the city council ad hoc committee's intention to draft and present an ordinance to the city council delaying making Monona smoke-free for at least 2 1/2 years, and possibly longer (due to construction never ending on time). If the ordinance is passed before we collect the 800 signatures, we will NOT be able to submit a referendum. The ad hoc committee plans to present this drafted ordinance in the near future. So time is of the essence. We also changed the name of our group to Breathe Free Monona to take advantage of some preprinted materials available to us now.
To this end, we organized a meeting to train petitioners for THIS Saturday 5/10 11:30-12:30 in the lounge room of the Monona community center. Free lunch will be provided by Smoke Free Wisconsin and the American Cancer Society. The intent is to distribute the petition signature sheets and train people on the responses to common questions. People can then go out to neighborhoods and collect signatures. We hope to collect the required amount within one week so we can get our referendum on the ballot this Fall.
I would ask you all to invite any Monona residents who you know who may be willing to collect signatures to this meeting.
Best Regards, Theresa
Theresa Guilbert, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Pediatric Pulmonary Section
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Friday, May 09, 2008
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Doug-
ReplyDeleteWhat is your view on all of this. I feel torn-- while I understand the frustration of adament non-smokers with the long wait for a ban- I also understand that for the businesses for whom this will affect, it is very tough.
When I first heard of the ad-hoc decision I thought it was pretty fair to those businesses who feel that they need to relocate, or add onto a smoking patio, or figure out how they are going to deal with it.
It seems that if you own one of those businesses, the ban will have a serious impact and thus they deserve some time.
What is the process after the 800 sigs? It goes to a city wide vote? then what? How long do they have to implement the ban? How much lead time would those businesses get to change or move?
Those are the questions I would need answered before I signed.
I attended tehir meeting today and will be posting a report later today.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember the referendum on leaf burning in Monona back in the 90's? Burning trash and leaves was what everyone did, Grandpa did it, Dad did it...now the politically correct(were there such in the 90's) wanted to ban it because some folks were bothered by it. Tough it up and keep Monona safe from nanny government and do gooders.
ReplyDeleteRaking leaves out to the curb was a bother when you could burn a few piles where they were gathered.
Medical problems with breathing, especially among youngsters with bronchitis or asthma, was normal...we all put up with it.
Finally enough people with medical problems and empathy for anyone suffering from having to shut their windows and stay indoors to avoid the smoke got together and petitioned the city council to ban the burning or trash and leaves outofdoors.
It was a fight to get it on the ballot, for the pols feared a backlash from the established interests and old timers in the city.
But it got on the ballot by referendum, passed, and Monona became a healthier place to live.
Now we face the problem of second hand smoke. And now the fear is of lung cancer and other related diseases. The costs of treating such cancers are enormous to all who pay insurance premiums.
My neighbors, who have children, go outside to smoke and protect their children from its effects. I cannot avoid their smoke and even find the smell pleasant with memories of my past smoking. But I know the effects are not good for me!
Science and medicine both urge people to stop smoking or, better yet, not start. Tobacco companies have paid for injuries caused by their product and health costs associated with smoking cause all of us to pay higher insurance premiums. Some employers will not hire smokers because of the cost of health insurance.
But again the tavern league and allied business interests are opposing a ban on smoking in public places. If employees need the job they can put up with the smoke, just like the owners do. Liberals and nanny government are destroying the free market and limiting the freedom to choose places of pleasure for smokers. Healthy choices are in the eye of the beholder and freedom is too important to leave to local governments.
Leaves, trash and tobacco...it's deja vu all over again as Yogi taught us! But now the fear is deadly and the referendum is much more serious. Let's not compare public health to the pleasures of a few and the profits of even fewer.
Put a smoking ban in public places on a referendum to take effect in 2008.
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Daniel J.(jim) Guilfoil