By PAIGE E. WASSEL, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
After the Greenwood City Council passed an ordinance to ban smoking in most public places, interest in the issue among public officials in Johnson County was red hot.
Now it appears to be more like a dying ember.
Two days after the Greenwood vote, the Johnson County Board of Health debated a ban that would prohibit smoking in all public places and recommended the measure to the county commissioners.
Franklin City Council members started looking at an ordinance to limit smoking in the city shortly after that.
Now, two months later, with Greenwood’s ordinance about to go into effect, discussion about the proposals has slowed. Decision-makers apparently are waiting to see what other communities do and whether all bans passed in the county will be similar or if one community will have a more restrictive ban.
The county commissioners have not scheduled a discussion or vote on a smoking ban, and Franklin council members postponed discussion until May 8 so that a full council could debate the measure since one member recently resigned.
Board of health president Debbie Swinehamer said she’s been wondering why the county commissioners have delayed talking about the ban.
“I’m frustrated, frankly,” she said.
Though the three-member board was given a copy of the ordinance recommended by the health board, commissioners said they have no plans to discuss a countywide ban at this time.
Commissioner Tom Kite said they haven’t had time to discuss the proposal because they’ve been too busy tackling other issues.
“Quite frankly, we had so much on our plate, we haven’t got to it yet,” he said.
The commissioners have never had a formal presentation on the ordinance, commissioner Mitch Ripley said. He said he would prefer to see what other cities decide to do before they consider a countywide ban.
Commissioner R.J. McConnell could not be reached for comment.
At a March 27 meeting, Franklin council member Joe Ault wondered whether the council should wait to see what action the commissioners take on a smoking ban, worried that Franklin’s proposal would be the most restrictive in the county.
The ordinance being discussed by the council would prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants, businesses and most public places. Greenwood’s ordinance does not include bars.
Council members Jeff Eggers, Ann Gordon and William Murphy said they wouldn’t mind waiting to see what the county decides to do. But Eggers said he didn’t think their decision would affect his vote, and Gordon and Murphy said they didn’t want to delay the discussion more than a couple of months.
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