Restaurant Lobbying by restaurant and hotel industry supporters failed to snuff out a City Council bill that would bar smoking in Oahu eateries.
smoking ban
clears hurdle
Opponents battled the
legislation, saying it will
hurt the economyBill to register home alarms advances
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.comThe Council's Planning and Public Safety Committee voted 3-1 yesterday to move the legislation out for a public hearing Oct. 17. Councilwoman Rene Mansho was the sole dissenting vote.
Opponents of the bill testified that the economic downturn spurred by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have made it more critical that the Council not take action, which they said could discourage visitors from coming to Hawaii.
"Now is exactly the wrong time to take up this measure and I would recommend that this bill be held off until next year," said Pat McCain, president of the Hawaii Restaurant Association that represents about 200 Oahu establishments. "At that point, Hawaii will have had a chance to recover from the economic crisis that we are now struggling through."
McCain said he believes more than half of the roughly 2,800 restaurants on the island already have chosen to go smoke-free without government intervention.
But a number of health advocates and individuals testified for the bill.
Julian Lipsher, a Health Department official, said "the evidence is firm and incontrovertible" that second-hand smoke has ill effects on nonsmokers.
Clifford Chang, director of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, said recent studies show that U.S. cities that have outlawed smoking in restaurants have not seen a reduction in tourism, and New York actually had an increase.
Councilman Gary Okino said his initial concerns about possible negative effects on the restaurant and tourism industries have been addressed by the studies he has seen. The recent downturn in the economy had nothing to do with the smoking issue, he said.
Public Safety Chairman John Henry Felix, who introduced the latest measure, said he agreed that the economic argument is "a red herring."
Councilman Steve Holmes said people need to develop "moral outrage" at the ill effects of cigarette smoking. "People are dying because of tobacco," he said. "It is not OK. It's time to stand up and do the right thing."
Mansho urged her colleagues to "show some sensitivity to the people out there who are feeling the pain" in the visitor and restaurant industries who are losing their jobs. "You have to answer to the people who are not able to continue to provide employment and I don't want to be part of that right now."
A similar bill moved out of the Council in 1995 by a 5-4 vote but failed to survive a veto by Mayor Jeremy Harris, who has not given any indication that he would do differently if this bill is approved.
A bill requiring registration of Oahu's 25,000 home and business security alarm systems has cleared the City Council Planning and Public Safety Committee despite questions raised by Council members. Bill to register home
alarms advancesHonolulu police say they are
wasting too much time
responding to false alarmsBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.comThe Council is considering the measure at the behest of the Honolulu Police Department, which testified yesterday that too much of their time is being spent on false alarms.
The bill calls for a registration fee of $15 and an annual renewal of $5.
Alarm owners would also be assessed a minimum of $100 for not having a permit and also be hit with a "service charge," of about $50, when more than two false alarm calls are registered in a year.
Those completing an "alarms systems operation and maintenance educational program" would be allowed a third false alarm before being assessed with a service charge.
The proposal would not apply to fire or vehicle alarms.
Councilman Gary Okino said he agrees with objections raised by the alarm industry that the ordinance would be too onerous for those who own alarms.
Okino said police have awakened him and his family because of a false alarm at their home when they have done nothing to trigger it.
Okino said he is particularly worried about a section of the bill that states "the police department shall be under no duty to respond, and may discontinue responding, to alarms activated" from homes and businesses who have not paid their service charges.
"I think saving that one life is worth your thousand false-alarm responses," Okino said.
The city could be exposed to liability if the police do not respond to crimes occurring at such premises, he said.
Police representatives said they may not respond to all calls at addresses with delinquent service charges, but would respond to emergencies.
Councilman Steve Holmes said he is also worried about liability to the city, and further raised questions about state open records laws which may require registration information collected from the homeowners and businesses be made public.
Police Capt. William Chur said officers responded to 33,000 false alarms, about 20 percent of all emergency police calls last year.
"We believe the passage of this bill will significantly reduce the numbers of false alarms that our police officers have to respond to," Chur said.
Alarm company representatives said police should target those businesses and homeowners who are to blame for a majority of false alarms.
They also suggested that the Council consider legislation which would require alarm companies to be licensed, which now is optional.
The bill now goes to the Council for a public hearing.
City & County of Honolulu
