Indoor smoking, alcohol-theater bans to be on April 5 ballot

With Mayor Jim O’Neal and Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky absent from the Jan. 24 Springfield City Council meeting, initiative petitions calling for bans on indoor smoking and alcohol in family theaters passed with few comments land 6-0-1 votes, with Councilman Scott Bailes abstaining on each measure.

The potential ordinances will now go before voters in a special election on April 5.  

Councilman Nick Ibarra said he worried that a precedent had been set with regard to the initiative petition process.

“The concern I have is not about these issues going to voters. I worry that a Pandora’s box has been opened and that this can happen every time we vote something down,” Ibarra said, referring to a 2010 ordinance that called for a smoking ban in businesses and failed after amendments were added to the bill.

Ibarra said he felt initiative petitions were an affront to voters who elected the council members who rejected the ban.

Councilman Robert Stephens disagreed with Ibarra’s take.

“There is this pesky little thing called the First Amendment that secures the right of citizens to petition the government,” Stephens said, adding that his vote to put the issues before voters did not reflect on how he would vote at the ballot box.

Councilman Doug Burlison questioned whether the council’s vote was a “dog and pony show” because the city charter requires that council address the petitions either by approving the petitions as written or allowing voters to weigh in on the proposals in a special election.

City Clerk Brenda Cirtin said a “no” vote on the measures moving to the ballot box would have been a violation of the charter given that council had not approved the petitions as written when it tabled both ordinances on Jan. 10.

“(Councilmembers) can approve the petition as presented. They can’t amend it or make any changes to it, or, failing to approve it, it goes to a vote of the people,” Cirtin said. “City Council is the entity that must call special election.

“Anytime there is a different election, City Council must call a special election, and these issues fit that category even though they will be held in conjunction with the general municipal election.”

At the Jan. 10 meeting, Mayor O’Neal rushed several public speakers on the ballot proposals, citing the requirements of the city charter as tying the hands of the legislative body.[[In-content Ad]]