Smoking ban wins
Big Isle Council’s
approvalThe bill will go into effect six
months after the mayor signs it
HILO >> A wide-ranging Big Island ban on smoking in enclosed areas open to the public except stand-alone bars was given final approval by the Hawaii County Council yesterday.
CORRECTION
Sunday, July 27, 2003>> The Hawaii County Council voted 9-0 to approve a Big Island smoking ban in restaurants and other public places. A story on Page A3 on Thursday incorrectly reported that the vote was 7-2.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.
The ban includes restaurants, bowling alleys and other businesses, common areas of hotels, and taxicabs.
It also covers private residences that are used as adult- or child-care facilities. However, smoking is allowed in such residences when the care facility is detached, or separated by a wall, from the owner's area.
Councilwoman Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd introduced the bill last September, including a ban on smoking in bars which would have made the measure the most restrictive in the state.
Leithead-Todd said yesterday that she never expected the bar ban to pass, but she included it to generate discussion. She said she expects the ban to be extended to bars someday, and bar owners should start preparing for it.
A primary purpose of the bill is to protect workers from secondhand smoke. Councilmen Fred Holschuh, a doctor, and Bob Jacobson, a nurse, argued that bar workers deserve that same protection as other workers. Bar owners have said they fear that a smoking ban would destroy their business.
Dr. Ed Fess testified that he lived in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in the 1980s and 1990s, when the city became the first municipality in the nation to go smoke free. Attendance at bars increased, he said.
The bill was in danger of being killed yesterday when a 5-4 majority led by Jacobson passed an amendment to remove the bar exemption.
Councilman Gary Safarik, in the minority on the vote, then called for a public hearing. The tactic would have delayed a vote until after the announced resignation of Leithead-Todd from the Council becomes effective, resulting in an expected 4-4 stalemate.
With some maneuvering, the bar ban was withdrawn, Safarik withdrew his call for a public hearing and the bill was passed 7-2.
Mayor Harry Kim is expected to sign it.
The bill goes into effect six months after Kim signs it, except for bars in restaurants, which have until Sept. 1, 2004, to convert to stand-alone status.
