Springfield City Council held a special session yesterday to discuss amendments to the city's smoking ban, and to weigh in on proposed changes to the city charter to make it more difficult to petition the administrative body.
Smoking banCity Attorney Dan Wichmer said he drafted a pair of omnibus bills for the meeting that each would provide a handful of exceptions to the smoking ban at the request of Mayor Pro Tem Robert Stephens. Mayor Jim O'Neal also said he signed off on the moves, which were a departure from the previously stated plans to have council vote on individual amendments before a “super-amendment” bill was drafted.
Councilman Doug Burlison – who sponsored one of the two omnibus bills – noted the change, saying he felt council was skipping a step in order to speed up the amendment process.
All nine council members must be present and cast a unanimous vote to approve an amendment change on a voter-approved ordinance, such as the smoking ban passed by voters in April 2011. At each of the last two meetings, at least one council member was absent. Public hearings were held on multiple proposed amendments, but council never voted on individual amendments that were to comprise a single amendment bill.
Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky said it was important for the group to come to a consensus ahead of the June 5 ballot, where voters will weigh in on an initiative-led measure that would repeal the smoking ban approved last year. Rushefsky said she wouldn't consider amending the ban if the repeal effort failed at the ballot box.
The first omnibus bill being considered would lift prohibitions for tobacco shops, cigar bars and private clubs that were operating in the city on April 5, 2011. It also would allow smoking indoors at bingo halls with separate facilities for smokers and would give bingo hall operators without such facilities two years to build them. In addition, the bill permits smoking as part of theatrical productions, and e-cigarettes would be removed from the ban.
Burlison’s bill would lift the same restrictions, plus it would allow smoking in all city bars. The city defines bars as establishments that serve alcohol where no more than 10 percent of sales come from food purchases.
A public hearing was held at the meeting, which took place on the fourth floor of the Busch Municipal building, but no members of the public spoke. City Manager Greg Burris said the public hearing would be held over to the May 7 council meeting, and then council could vote on the two omnibus bills provided all council members attend.
City charterMeasures designed to make it more difficult to submit initiative petitions to council were introduced at yesterday’s meeting. If passed by council, the bills would go before voters in August – Wichmer said all city charter changes must be approved by voters.
Proposed revisions to the charter include:
- changing the number of signatures needed for an initiative petition from 10 percent of voters who participated in the previous election to 10 percent of total registered voters at the time of the previous election;
- allowing council to remove illegal language from the petition with a super-majority vote of seven council members;
- permitting council to delay a public vote for up to a year to tie it to another planned election; and
- allowing a super-majority to amend a voter-approved ordinance one year after approval.
The changes were recommended by council’s Plans and Policies Committee. Burlison, one of its members, said cost reduction was a priority for the group, but he felt the 10 percent requirement was too high. Wichmer said, based on current numbers, the change would call for roughly 10,000 registered voters to sign a petition initiative, compared to around 2,000 now. Burlison said amending the number of voters required to forward an initiative to roughly 5 percent of registered voters would be more appropriate.
Burris said the public hearing on the proposals would be continued at the May 7 council meeting.[[In-content Ad]]
