The Times West Virginian

Opinion

March 15, 2009

Bill would ‘fix’ mistake regarding smoking ban

Ever wish that you could go back in time and fix the mistakes you’ve made in your life?

While Marion County delegates haven’t developed a time machine to take us all back to last spring, they have introduced a bill that could “fix” a mistake that was made when a smoking ban was passed without any regard for public opinion.

And not only would it “fix” our mistake, it would prevent any other county in the state without a smoking ban from making the same mistake.

House Majority Whip Mike Caputo and Delegates Tim Manchin and Linda Longstreth, all D-Marion, have sponsored a bill that would require all smoking bans not yet in effect and all future bans to be approved by the state’s county commissions — not the county boards of health. If passed — the bill is now in the House’s Political Subdivisions Committee — that would means that Marion’s smoking ban questionably passed last year would have to be approved by the county commission before it goes into effect.

Last spring in Marion County, the five-member health board revised its 2005 smoking ban by prohibiting smoking in all public places, including bars, fraternal organizations (except at private functions) and limited video lottery parlors. But the health board shamefully never truly sought public comment for this measure.

The amended ordinance was passed March 28 without a public hearing. While the board asked for public comment on the new ordinance, it did so 24 weeks in advance of the vote. On Oct. 11, 2007, and two following days, the board ran 79-word newspaper legal ads about the revision. The ads drew only four comments from the public in response after they were published. Meanwhile, thousands of letters and public meetings were held on similar ordinances in Monongalia and Harrison counties.

Like the delegates who sponsored the bill, the Times West Virginian editorial board has never spoken out against the end result — a ban on smoking — but about about the process by which the ban was passed.

“Right now, it’s badly handled, and I just think that voters have a hard time accepting that a body that is not accountable to the public, to the electorate, can impose these regulations on the county,” Manchin said.

If HB 2932 passes, there would also be concrete notice requirements for public comment and public hearings, and if the county commission fails to act on a ban within a certain number of days, the regulation would become void.

If the bill passes, Marion County residents might actually get a say about the smoking ban — something they’ve been denied for the past year. With the county commission responsible for the ultimate decision, in the hands of the government body it should be open to public discourse instead of passed in the back room of a local restaurant.

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