Bill to ban smoking
in restaurants
is near death

But Council member Felix
aims for a compromise bill

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By Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.com

A proposal to ban smoking in Oahu restaurants is on the brink of being snuffed out, although a compromise could be in the offing.

The bill failed to make it out of the City Council during a second reading Oct. 17. Council members voted 4-3 to approve the ban, but five votes are needed to pass or reject a measure.

The measure is now expected to appear on the Nov. 6 agenda as an item that will be considered for filing, or killing.

Bill author John Henry Felix was joined by Duke Bainum, Steve Holmes and Gary Okino in supporting the ban. Members John DeSoto, Andy Mirikitani and Jon Yoshimura were opposed, while Romy Cachola and Rene Mansho were not present during the vote.

Cachola and Mansho, neither of whom could be reached for comment yesterday, are not expected to vote for the ban.

"In the worst case, it will be filed," Felix said. "In the best case, it will be referred back to committee. I'm going to ask (colleagues) if we can send it back to committee, work it over and see if we can reach some kind of compromise."

Felix said one thing he'd like them to consider is delaying when the bill would take effect.

"I don't want to emaciate the bill, but I'm willing to consider other amendments that would not make it meaningless," he said.

Yoshimura, Council chairman, also is believed to be working on a compromise. He could not be reached for comment.

Felix said he had expected to gain support for the original bill from DeSoto and Mirikitani, who has introduced smoking bans in the past.

DeSoto said he changed his mind after a recent trip to California, which has a restaurant smoking ban.

Mirikitani could not be reached for comment.

One supporter and one opponent of the smoking bill said they would support working toward a compromise plan.

"We're willing to discuss an alternative that doesn't necessarily hurt business but improves air quality," said Patrick McCain, president of the Hawaii Restaurant Association, which opposes a restaurant ban. "People are trying to be constructive about this thing."

Julian Lipsher, director of the Health Department's Tobacco Prevention and Education Project, said, "We're always interested to see if there is a way to protect workers and increase the number of nonsmoking seats."

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City & County of Honolulu