Peggy Vlerebome, Madison Courier Staff Writer
Smoking will be banned from public places and places of employment in Madison after Aug. 1. The City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday night in favor of an ordinance restricting where smoking will be legal.
Council member Don Joslin, who voted for the ordinance, predicted before the vote that how the council voted will be remembered by voters next year, when all seven of the council positions will be on the ballot.
“I think you’ll see it at the polls next time,” Joslin said.
He was joined in the majority by Bob Schoenstein, Dave Adams and Mary K. Dwyer. Voting against the ordinance were council members Jim Lee, Bob May and David Carlow.
Lee said business owners, who have put their money into the enterprise, should be allowed to decide whether to allow smoking. The public, he said, can “vote by where we spend our money.”
He also said he hadn’t found convincing evidence that second-hand smoke is as much of a problem as ordinance proponents had contended, and said studies on second-hand smoke were about 15 years old.
Council members decided to hear more opinions from the public before voting, even though the commenting part of the process was already over and the measure was up for a vote. The council had heard from the public twice at heated listening sessions.
The ordinance will be enforced by the Police Department and the Fire Department. Smokers who violate the ordinance will be guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of up to $50. The owner, manager or operator of a public place or a place of employment who violates the ordinance also will be guilty of an infraction, with the punishment a fine of up to $100 for the first violation, a fine up to $200 for the second violation within a year, and a fine up to $500 for each additional violation within a year.
Owners, managers and operators also can lose any license or permit for the business or public place for violating the ordinance.
The city, the Jefferson County Health Department and King’s Daughters’ Hospital will have an educational campaign about the ordinance.
Exempted from the ordinance are homes unless they are used for child or adult day care, or for a health-care facility; fraternal lodges; and private clubs.
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