Council considering making smoking illegal in Lakewood Parks

[Christopher Bindel]

Councilwoman Monique Smith, along with Councilwoman Mary Louise Madigan, introduced an ordinance that, if passed, will make smoking illegal in all of Lakewood's 16 or so parks.

[Betsy Voinovich]

Well as a non-smoker, I like the sound of this a lot but I had to put the idea to my smoker husband. I thought it would upset him, but he said he's perfectly willing to exit a park the way he'd exit a building to smoke, and doesn't mind standing on the sidewalk or even on the curb.

He said that Lakewood's parks, when he's been in them, have been too full of people to allow smoking, from July 4th at Lakewood Park to just the army of families at the park at the top of our street, pushing kids on swings and carousels, with teams of kids on the lawns playing football. He doesn't throw cigarette butts on the ground and is annoyed that so many smokers act as if cigarette butts are leaves or dust. He has not fond memories of finding cigarette butts in the sand while playing with our kids when they were younger in the sandboxes in the parks.

Maybe it's time.

I do think he'd have a different opinion if he was told he was not allowed to smoke outside of his own house.

Betsy Voinovich

[David Brainard]

Well, so much for the 'walkability' factor, eh? Not being able to sit on a park bench is rather limiting.
Dave

-30-

[Jim O'Bryan]

I have this weird vision driving down Lake and not being able to see the park for all of
the people walking their dogs and smoking on the sidewalk, not allowed to enter the park.

Now I have no issue with the ban. I personally quit smoking cigarettes 25 years ago, after
smoking three packs of Lucky Strikes a day. I remember the other day when the bars I
ran, or worked in, or the factories were filled with smoke from the hundreds of other smokers.
I remember fully the smell of cigars, pipes, and cigarettes at restaurants, theaters, elevators.
But those days are long gone. For the betterment of all.

I can also understand the non-smoking mother aghast at cigarette butts on the kids playground.
No one wants their kids playing with nasty cigarette butts.

But really? Lakewood loses $300,000 of outside help. We have to cut the budget by a reported
$4 million dollars, though we found $400,000 for decorative lamp posts on Clifton. HUD
and others have taken our funding from dreams to recovery. I believe this is the first time
money for homeless and poor in Lakewood is higher, than money for building dreams,
like DowntowN, etc.

And we worry about smoking. We throw out another law, that picks on the weakest known
group in America, smokers. We are going to spend time on this?

What is next, smokeless barbecues? There are studies out there that show very convincingly
that the smoke from burning pork carries a very high amount of nitrates. There has been
FDA warnings about burnt pork possibly causing cancer... Just saying? Smokeless fireworks?
Not only do they go up and burn vast amounts of sulfur, nitrates, and various metals, but
it also creates nasty litter, and as we know here first hand, real fire hazards.

I am not saying it is a bad law/rule. I am not saying it will not win favor with every non-smoker
in Lakewood, also a majority of voters. I am not saying it is not a romantic, very green
issue, that so many can rally behind.

I am just asking on a list of let's say 1-10, where does it fall in importance of what Lakewood
needs to do to survive the year?

FWIW


.

[Peter Grossetti]

Generally speaking (as I am no expert) I see this as more of a community health issue/quality of life issue than an attack on "the weakest known group in America." I was once weak (read: "a smoker") but got strong and quit.

I couldn't be more pleased to see this introduced!

To my friends who still smoke, let me say: I LOVE YOU, PLEASE QUIT!

[Jim O'Bryan]

Generally speaking (as I am no expert) I see this as more of a community health issue/quality of life issue than an attack on "the weakest known group in America." I was once weak (read: "a smoker") but got strong and quit.

I couldn't be more pleased to see this introduced!

To my friends who still smoke, let me say: I LOVE YOU, PLEASE QUIT!

Well go figure, another non-smoker pleased over this. Go figure.

Public health, sure. Smart, sure.

On 1-10 in this city. Somewhere near 392 in importance.

When I use weak, it was not in reference to how hard it was to quit. But that the shear
numbers prove, this is a winning platform for politicians to ride. Low hanging fruit.

Want to impress me, ban it in the city.


.

[J Hrlec]

I can only assume like someone else said, it is a cig butt on the ground issue?
Why would something like this not just fall under a littering ordinance, assuming there is one.

It's not like smoke itself is going to stop from blowing into the park and how much worse could it be than exhaust from cars driving through or grilling?

Quitting smoking is good.... BUT what does this have to do with that, absolutely nothing.

[J Hrlec]

Want to impress me, ban it in the city.

I would guess that this would dramatically decrease the Lakewood bar and restaurant businesses. At least now patrons still go because they can stand outside and get their nicotine "fix" .

[Peter Grossetti]

bar/restaurant/coffee house patrons standing outside getting their nicotine fix make Lakewood a less-Walkable place (for me!)

[Corey Rossen]

I have this smoking/no smoking conversation a lot (keep in mind I founded an organization promoting heart health). I also come from a family of smokers, chimney stack smokers.

The conversations always seem to end up as a stand off, who has more rights:
Smokers for their ability to be "allowed" to smoke and pollute non-smokers air with second hand smoke.
or
Non smokers for their ability to be "allowed" to breath smokeless air and deprive smokers their right to a nicotine fix.

No one wins and the debate goes on.

Corey

[John LePlae]

Seems like a no brainer. Lot's of low hanging fruit out there. Although I like how you think big Jim!

Look for a ban on smoking in cars someday too. I can't tell you how many times i've breathed in that air.

Also a reformed smoker here.

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

One thing I've had to get used to in my new city is that some (not all) places allow people to smoke inside. I remember when the ban was originally being talked about in Lakewood and the state, and how restaurant workers said they would much rather work in a smoke-free environment. It is a luxury to be able to sit down at a bar and not have smoke blowing in your face while you enjoy a cold one or eat a meal. It's really, really nice.

I'm not sure how effective the ban would be. Not really sure how practical it is, either. But living in a place where smoking is allowed inside and people still do smoke in bars and venues, it's really refreshing to come back to Ohio where you can go to a bar and not smell like an ashtray after two minutes.

[Thomas Kaczmarek]

Just another unenforceable law like texting while driving. Maybe they should pass a law about smoking in city owned vehicles. If there is one, some city employes seem not to know it. It's bad to sit on a bench in wide open Lakewood Park to smoke, but o.k. for a group to be puffing away outside some bars and coffee houses creating a cloud of smoke that the same people they want to protect have to walk through. There's a bar near my house that if I had a dollar for every butt that's on the sidewalk or in the gutter, I could have a months vacation in Florida. But isn't that a litter ordinance matter that isn't being enforced? If you want to make Lakewood more walkable, make sure that these places clean up out front. I live close to the Sloane Ave Park. You take your life in your hands walking through with the broken bricks and the uneven brick walk. Trees that were taken out from the tree lawn haven't been replaced in years. This little park is a mess. Fix the park up the way it should be and then maybe you can tell me not to smoke there. Yes I still smoke, but I would never think of throwing a butt on the ground at a park or a friends yard. I field strip it and take the filter home. Common sense can go a long way for some of these problems, and you can't legislate common sense.

A few years ago Disney World went no smoking except in designated areas. When my wife and I go down there and I go over to a smoking area, the biggest surprise is that if there are say 20 to 30 people in that little spot, almost half are little kids with their parents sitting in all the smoke. Who do these regulations protect? How many mothers have called city hall and complained about walking their kids home from school and having to walk through a cloud of smoke on Detroit Ave?

[Charlie Page]

I would love to hear how this would be enforced. Don't our police have enough to do chasing real criminals?

I think there is more of a health hazard at Lakewood Park with the abundance of goose poop than second hand smoke. Same with the enjoyment factor.

[David Anderson]

Hey, Jim and all.

I had not seen this discussion before this afternoon.

Regarding priorities, there was somewhere around 64 items on the docket this past Monday evening, including many dealing with millions in appropriations related to the new budget. The proposed ordinance regarding smoking in Lakewood parks was received, filed and referred to a committee in about a minute.

Yes, this proposed ordinance will receive more attention in the near future but I don’t think it will be at the expense of other committee meetings or deliberations on other matters. In my short time on Council, I’ve seen how discussions on a particular issue have spurred deeper conversations on related issues. So, I look forward to the committee hearings, public discussion and possible follow up ideas.

In fact, Council’s committee of the whole met for three hours this morning to discuss priorities, vision and other matters.

Yours in service,

David W. Anderson
Councilman, Ward 1
216-789-6463