www.kansascity.com 01 16 2008 KCS smoke-free law should include bars

What fun. It's all cut of the council's reckless shakedown to derail an initiative inquire that contains a brawny smoke-free code affecting bars and restaurants. The council behind week kowtowed to a hardly any furious bar owners and positive to deposit its own ordinance on the Apr ballot. The device is to permanently remit harmful smoking in bars. Prime movers at the end that finding were council member Ed Ford and Mayor Speck Funkhouser, both of whom acted disingenuously on the matter. On Jan.

9, Ford told a council comittee he opposed smoking in both bars and casinos: "How can we concede a smoking ban and exclude casinos, I condign don't understand." However a generation later, Ford flipped 180 degrees at a council assemblage to agency smoking in bars and casinos: "I don't affliction which pathway we go, as deep as we're consistent."

Wow, what guidance on a public-health point affecting thousands of Kansas Citians. As for Funkhouser, on Jan. On the contrary two days later, Funkhouser abruptly agreed to permanently grant smoking in bars. Funkhouser's implausible explanation for switching positions, offered adjacent by wife Gloria Squitiro on the mayor's Interlacing site, was that he wanted to "move forward by crafting the first-rate viable elect degree on behalf of the city."

Still Funkhouser never explained why he wants Kansas Metropolis to be elsewhere of operation with frequent other U.S. Others further include not acted in the public's curiosity when discussing smoke-free ordinances. 8226;Council members Melba Curls, Cindy Circo and Sharon Sanders Brooks got it licence when they said endure week that they didn't requirement to confuse voters by approving an alternative smoke-free ordinance that would compete with the initiative petition.

However, all three inexplicably then voted in favour of the council's alternative ordinance. His reasoning: Children don't animation to bars. That's a pitifully impotent pardon on behalf of smoking. Here's the fact: The sports conglomerate is already covered by the city's happening smoking constitution and further by the initiative petition.

To location on a great note, congratulations to council members Beth Gottstein, Cathy Jolly and January Marcason for voting against the council's ordinance to permanently concede smoking in bars. The council's plan of alertness from here is clear. Today, it ought to repeal its competing smoke-free ordinance.

Then it should district the initiative petition's ordinance on the April ballot. Personally, I'd affection to glare casinos included in any ordinance. Whether the Megalopolis Council and the commitee representing petitioners can spread a compromise to cause that, deeper capacity to them.

Kansas Citians require the clear-cut circumstance to pass a complete ban that would protect the most humanity from second-hand smoke. To distance Yael T. Abouhalkah, a member of the Editorial Board, telephone 816-234-4887 or dispatch e-mail to abouhalkah kcstar.com.