By SCOTT SMITH, Kokomo Tribune staff writer
A proposed city-wide smoking ban passed on second reading Monday, but not before the Kokomo Common Council voted narrowly to exempt bars and clubs.
Once again, the debate before council covered the gamut of possible arguments for and against the proposed ban, as an overflow crowd packed council chambers.
In the end, Councilman Greg Goodnight, D-At Large, provided a possible resolution to the fight, in the form of an amendment cribbed directly from the city ordinance passed last year in Indianapolis.
Under that ordinance, charitable clubs, private clubs, and establishments that both serve alcohol and exclude patrons under 21 years of age may allow smoking.
Without that exemption, Goodnight said, some of the bars on Kokomo's north end might not survive.
"No matter what we do there will be winners and losers," Goodnight said. "But if you can drive four miles to Galveston to go to a smoking establishment, I think it will hurt some of the bars on the north end of town."
The amended measure now heads to a third - and final - reading at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28 in council chambers, City Hall, 100 S. Union St.
Prior to the meeting, a spokesman for the Smoke Free Kokomo coalition, a network of local anti-smoking advocates, indicated the bars/clubs exemption might be the one negotiable area in the proposed ordinance.
In its original form, it would have banned smoking in almost all workplaces in Kokomo, including bars and restaurants.
Under the amended ordinance, which passed on a 6-3 second reading vote, family restaurants would still go smoke free. Other establishments currently serving minors in family areas and the over-21 crowd in bar areas could potentially either go smoke free, or decide to exclude minors.
Smoke Free member Charlie Skoog urged council to consider the potential health impact of banning smoking in all workplaces, including bars.
"I firmly believe that if we outlaw smoking across the board, there's many people in this room I hope to God would like to quit," Skoog said. "If you go in a bar and you're not allowed to smoke, you're not gonna smoke. But if you go in a bar and there's people smoking, it's gonna be hard to quit."
On the other side, Kokomo restaurant owner Tom Trine said there was no end of things government could ban to promote public safety. As a demonstration, he laid out a can of beer, a pack of cigarettes, a pill bottle, a burger box and car keys on the council dias.
"If all the people that support this [smoking ban] will compensate me for my lost business, I'll put on a red shirt," Trine told the red-shirted Smoke Free Kokomo supporters. "But if this is done, a choice is taken away from me."
Randy Blankenship, a local pastor, said that smoker's rights should end where they impact the rights of others to breathe smoke-free air.
"I have the freedom to run around this room waving my arms, but [my right] stops when I start bloodying Mr. [Mike] Karickhoff's face," Blankenship said, referring to one council member.
Kokomo resident Lisa Rink made her own reference to a council member, singling out Dan Haworth, who owns a donut shop.
"If this is about public health, then Mr. Haworth's in trouble, because I didn't get this body from NOT eating his donuts," Rink said to a roomful of laughter. "That's how absurd all of this sounds to me."