Springfield City Council members disagreed on how to handle an initiative petition designed to repeal Springfield's smoking ban, sending the measure to a June 5 election – one year after businesses were required to honor the voter-approved prohibition on smoking in enclosed public spaces.
Five council members - Mayor Jim O'Neal, Cindy Rushefsky, Jerry Compton, Bob Stephens and John Rush - voted against the repeal initiative. A majority vote was required to pass the initiative, so now, voters will be charged with deciding to keep or discard the smoking ban.
The repeal initiative was led by Live Free Springfield, which has maintained that several businesses such as Schultz & Dooley’s Too on South National Avenue have closed as a result of the ban. Opponents of the repeal - such as Anne Kim, co-owner of Ophelia’s and Finnegan’s Wake - have said revenue is up in the last year and the ban levels the playing field for bars and restaurants.
Councilman Rush said since council sent the voter-led initiative petition calling for the smoking ban to voters, it should do the same for the initiative-led repeal effort.
“In the interest of fairness, it seems if we sent the issue to voters the first time, it should be placed in their hands again,” Rush said.
Councilwoman Rushefsky said it seemed “patently illogical” that the roughly 2,000 people who called for the repeal, plus the votes of only five council members, should cancel out the will of 11,000 voters who approved the ban last April. She praised Councilman Stephens’ suggestion that a unanimous council could work together in the coming weeks to agree on a “reasonable smoking ban with exceptions.” Based on comments from council members and backers of the repeal, possible exceptions include allowing smoking at tobacco shops and electronic cigarettes in bars.
City Attorney Dan Wichmer said council only has two options with any ordinance brought by initiative petition: pass the measure or send it to voters. Wichmer has stated that measures coming from initiative petitions can be changed at any time if approved by council, but if voters approve a measure, it must stand untouched for at least six months and then can only be modified or repealed by a unanimous council vote, according to the charter.
Wichmer argued during the bill’s public hearing March 12 that because citizens called for the repeal through the initiative petition process, the charter only required the ordinance get a majority vote to be enacted. An attorney who represented ban supporters One Air Alliance disagreed, saying the city would open itself to a legal challenge if smoking ban supporters didn’t have an opportunity to defend their ordinance at the polls.
Councilmen Scott Bailes, Tom Bieker, Doug Burlison and Jeff Seifried voted to approve the repeal and avoid the expenses of an election, which could be up to $100,000.
“I think we have a responsibility to come to a compromise, and the quickest path to that is to pass (the repeal ordinance),” Seifried said.
The issue has been divisive for businesses since 53 percent of voters approved the smoking ban last April.
Yesterday, officials with CoxHealth, Mercy Springfield Communities, Jordan Valley Community Health Center and Ozarks Community Hospital issued a joint news release professing their support of the Springfield smoking ban. At the March 12 public hearing, a handful of businesses expressed support for the repeal ordinance, such as Just For Him, Smoke 51 Outlet and Knightyme Bar & Billiards Inc.
For more coverage of the March 26 council meeting, check out the March 30 digital edition or the April 2 print edition of Springfield Business Journal.[[In-content Ad]]
