UPDATE: Kiss Vetoes Smoking Ban
Four days after City Council narrowly voted in favor of implementing a Downtown Smoking Ordinance, Mayor Bob Kiss vetoed the ordinance, calling to it "bad public policy."
City Council passed the ordinance, with an 8-6 vote, during their 7:00 PM meeting in the Contois Auditorium on January 9.
City Council decided not to revisit the issue on January 23, accepting the veto. Council would have needed 10 votes to overturn the mayoral veto.
According to the Burlington Free Press, among those who voted against the passage were Mayoral Candidate Kurt Wright (Ward 4), along with Republican Councilors Vince Dober and Paul Decelles (both from Ward 7), Democrats Dave Hartnett (Ward 4) and Bram Kranichfeld (Ward 2) and Progressive Emma Mulvaney-Stanak (Ward 3). Kurt Wright stated that it would not be possible to find the two votes in favor of the ban that would have been needed.
The ordnance would have prohibited smoking in almost all downtown areas everyday from 9 AM to 9 PM. Those areas affected would have been the downtown blocks bounded by South Winooski Ave. and King, Pine and Pearl Streets, with the centerline of each street serving as the boundary line. Penalties would range from $50 to $100 for those who are cited, but the ordinance states that police officers will have to give people one warning before issuing citations.
Exceptions to the ban were written in for private property and for outdoor sidewalk space that is leased or licensed from the city, if the space is marked to warn passerbys that smoking is permitted. In his veto memorandum to City Council (which you can read here), Kiss noted that exceptions make the ordinance too difficult to enforce.
He also said "the proposed ordinance does nothing to protect the employees of businesses from second-hand smoke where the owner allows outdoor cafe smoking." The purpose of the ordinance, as written, is “to protect the health of residents and visitors by limiting and eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke.”
The veto comes after the second attempt to pass the ordinance; in December, City Council voted to send the initial ordinance back to the committee to be reworked. The first draft included an additional “carve-out” that would have allowed smoking in City Hall Park. The park exception has been taken out of the new draft, but could still fall into the exception category if someone leases the space and puts up signage during their event.
The BBA has been actively involved in the smoking ordinance process. There are two current BBA members on the smoking task force which reports to the ordinance committee, and the BBA has discussed the proposal at board meetings and with the Downtown Action Group.
Additionally, Executive Director Kelly Devine has had several discussions on the matter with Councilor Joan Shannon, who is sponsoring the ordinance. The BBA has worked diligently to improve City Hall Park, Burlington’s only downtown green space, over the last two years. It was critical to the organization that the park carve-out be removed. Going forward, the BBA will be working with officials discuss how implementation and law enforcement will be handled.
