Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-29-16 Health and Public SafetyHEALTH & PUBLIC SAFETY Committee Members Present: Other Council Present: Others Present: Agenda: Chairperson John onsideration. MARCH 29 2016 3:40 P.M. John Voorde, Karen L. White, Oliver Davis, Jo M. Broden Tim Scott, Gavin Ferlic, Randy Kelly, Regina Williams - Preston Kareemah Fowler, Alkeyna Aldridge, Joseph Molnar Adriana Rodriguez, Kathleen Cekanski- Farrand Bill No. 11 -16 Smoke Free Air Standards Voorde called the Health & Public Safety meeting to order with one bill for c Councilmember Karen White made a motion to recess and reconvene to watch h oformal Council Chambers due to the amount of people from the public wishing Councilmember Oliver Davis seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four (4) ayes. & Public Safety Committee reconvened in the formal Council Chambers at 3:50 p.m. T he Health Bill No 11 -16 Smoke Free Air Standards -16 for Councilmember Karen White made a motion to hear oden second t elmot on which carried by a purposes of public hearing. Councilmember Jo M. Br voice vote of four (4) ayes. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic served as the presenter and petitioner laces the power point is on file in Ferlic gave a presentation on the benefits of smoke free wor p the City Clerk's Office. . ary changes. The first change regards the wording The second substitute ordinance has two p change was a change in implementation after about spacing and open windows. h ampl for all businesses to adapt to that change. hearing from business owners to give them population is covered by comprehensive clean air Over fifty (50) percent of the United States pop Bloomington, and Elkhart all have policies, including 802 cities. Indianapolis, Fort Wayn a l ercent of the sixty (60) comprehensive clean air policies along with over sevent y -five (75) p largest cities in the United States. Councilmember Ferlic stated he is asking for the passage oand about seventy (70) that cean t cause Second hand smoke contains hundreds toxic cyanide, y and arsenic. Secondhand smoke can cancer, including carbon monoxide, hydrogen cause among smokers and non - smokers heart disease, lung disease, cancer, and stroke. Approximately 600,000 people die each year worldwide from second hand smoke. Regarding second hand aerosol, the byproduct of e- cigarettes and vaping, at least ten (10) chemicals identified in ESD aerosol are carcinogens and toxins, including benzene, formaldehyde and nicotine. The World Health Organization and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health recommend that e- cigarettes not be used indoors or in workplaces. Passing a clean air ordinance will have a tremendous public health impact on our city and studies have shown this. Smoke free laws covering at least fifty (50) percent of a counties population in the U.S. saw a twenty (20) percent reduction in heart attacks and an eleven (11) percent reduction in pulmonary disease. Just in the first year when New York passed a clean air ordinance they saw an eight (8) percent decrease in hospital admissions for heart attacks and a $56 million dollar decrease in hospital costs. These are statistics but they affect real people. This means saving people's lives with less heart attacks and less pulmonary diseases. When we talk about numbers we lose the fact that these are people and this ordinance can improve people's lives and health. Clean air ordinances have demonstrated reductions in heart attacks angina asthma, strokes, heath disease, lunge disease and cancer. ' Some people make the argument that it is an adult's decision in where they work and where th patronize businesses. However, we don't use the same logic when a business or factory has ey dangerous levels of carbon monoxide. We don't just tell workers that you're an adult you can make a choice to work in that factory and we don't tell members of the public that if they're going to be shopping at a store with dangerous levels of carbon monoxide that they can simply make a choice as an adult. We have laws that protect the public and laws that protect workers from things like carbon monoxide. One of the seventy (70) carcinogens in second hand smoke is carbon monoxide. The vast majority of economic research concludes there is no negative economic impact to a clean air ordinance. These are academic, peer reviewed, and published in highly respected journals. There are some other outlier studies that say the opposite but the majority o funded by the tobacco industry. J y f those are There is a recent CDC study, which was the most comprehensive study to date on this issue which looked at 216 cities in eight (8) states without statewide smoke -free air laws. This is similar to the situations South Bend would be in if we pass this ordinance. The study stated equivocally that smoke free laws did not have an adverse economic impact and it rovi ded a small economic benefit to cities in one (1) state. This study cited over twenty-two (22 ) peer reviewed academic research articles. More importantly, smoke -free laws improve both employee and public health. y The Indiana State Department of Health estimates the cost of second hand smoke a dollars for the City of South Bend. t $20 million 2 This ordinance would be self - enforcing. People follow the law ahundred (400) affected re really as a result citations not needed. For example, the City of Indianapolis had over four citations. When laws are passed establishments and in the first year they issued around three (3) people follow the law. A volunteer line establishedf by Smoke Free St. Joe will help take away calls are received Code Enfor cement will go any burden from Code Enforcement. If a number o take a look at the property. If that business is only open after 5:0 out and make will a check to the Police Dept. potentially using the volunteer police officers g orcement enforce. Again overtime these ordinances are self - enforcing. Both te and Enf expe ations of hem. Police Department stated they were comfortable with the Indiana Code has given cities an express right to pass an in thec ast due to their exemptions,e e that is more than the state law. Many ordinances have been challeng ed p this bill contains no exemptions. Any sort of indoor ided an workplace will exempt on and did not include policy. Some cite the Evansville case from 201 y p a severability clause. This bill does have a severability clause to preserve the remainder le al experts and found thus the ordinance. This ordinance was reviewed by national and g ordinance is valid. In terms of helping the businesses affected by the ordinance there 017 Smoke Free St. ole will will be support them including the extended implementation time to January provide marketing seminars, the administration will help with permitting for letting the bars ible invest in outdoor patios and the process will be St Joe in terms of social medna propmo on for any American Lung Association and Smoke Free bars that might decide to go smoke free before the implementation date, as well as help with signage and education regarding the ordinance. One argument that has been heard is the case of the City banikwas pas ed immediately before the effect the smoking ban had in Elkhart. Elkhart 's smoking Great Recession and Elkhart had the third highest unemployment lme period it clearly was for during that time. If any sort of businesses suffer g multiple reasons. At the time the or was passed Elkhart was already which has gebounded and P employment. But than when rebound passed. is at levels higher Co uncilmember Ferlic cautioned the Council from viewing anecdotal on this ine . and provided asked to look at the academic and peer reviewed studies conducted ow des ite the recession and case of Plainfield IN which saw their food and beverage tax g r P town's ban on smoking in public places to show everyone can bring anecdotal evidence forward to tell the story they want. Chairperson Voorde explained the structure of the Committee meeting and the Committee can send the bill forward with favorable or no recommendation. give the public more opportunity to speak to forgo Councilmember Karen White stated to h p uestions from the Committee and just let the public speak. The councilmembers can ask q questions at the full Council meeting later that evening. 3 The Committee agreed with Councilmember White and moved straight to the public portion of the meeting. Those wishing to speak in favor of Bill 11 -16: Karl Nichols, 1530 College St., thanked the Council for taking the time to hear from th em. He focused on the implementation benefits that Smoke Free St. Joe was willing to provide to the affected businesses during the implementation period. They would help in three main ways including community education, event promotion, and marketing workshops. This would include sending implementation tool kits to all affected businesses. They would set up a smoke free hotline which would answer questions about the new law, provide information about compliance and other resources. They would help with daily and weekly advertisements about the new law prior to enforcement dates. They would coordinate with the Common Council to identify early implementers who would be interested in promotion from Smoke Free St. Joe and have the Smoke Free St. Joe monthly meetings at some of the early adopters bars. Promote events and bars on the Smoke Free St. Joe social media sites and interview and profile one business per month. They would hold at least four (4) two (2) hour marketing workshops for the affected businesses regarding marketing via social media, branding and promoting the venue, event planning, and expanding the customer base. Smoke Free St. Joe wants this potential transition to be positive for anyone involved. Kelli Brien, 115 E. Woodside St., served as a professional in public health for over eight (8) years. She works with mothers and clients who have to choose between their families and their paychecks. St. Joseph County is one of the highest in the nation for infant mortality. These employees are bringing home third hand smoke and harming their children. This ordinance would not only protect the parents who work and frequent these establishments but also the children who do not have a choice. LaTyorya Greene, 1028 Ebeling Dr., it is clear and evident the dangers of second hand smoke. Fifty -nine (59) people from our community die each year to secondhand smoke. Many may not have had an option of where they can work. All residents of South Bend deserve to live, work, study, and play in a smoke free environment. This ordinance would protect all workers from the dangers of secondhand smoke and encourage workers to quit smoking and reduce the amount of people who start smoking. Traci Kennedy, Columbia Missouri, she works for an organization titled Americans for Non Smoker's Rights. Everyone deserves the right to breath clean air at work no matter where the work. This is a public health issue but also there is a negative economic impact on South Bend due to secondhand smoke. These are serious tax payer burdens. There are estimates that each tax payer in Indiana pays approximately $920 due to smoking related state and federal tax burdens. We are already paying for the economic impact of secondhand smoke. Kevin O'Flarrerty, 178 Housatome Drive, CT, is a regional advocacy director for the campaign Tobacco Free Kids. In that capacity he covers eleven (11) states throughout the U.S. including Indiana. He was asked to talk specifically about the legal aspects of the ordinance. Tobacco Free 4 is set Kids strongly supports this ordinance and exceptions to certain industries This protects all workers comprehensive ordinance that provides p t is and all businesses. The stumbling points for other hs Ordinance is bet ter . en VBy saying exceptions to some work places, by not having that thi this a threat to all workers and protecting all workers equally comprehensively rehensively like this they have cases he has been a part of where the ordinance was independent attorneys and all have found this proposed been upheld fully. oed law one that would hold up against a legal challenge. Carter Mcleod, 1233 Fairview, secondhand smoke is not appreciated deal h in theis community. oke and the People should e e able consequences srthaand ome with without econdhand smoke. negative health q Those wishing to speak in opposition: Jesse Davis, P.O Box 10205 South Bend, asked if the proposed ri their bar. casino e He Gavin hoch will many of mile from these local businesses would have smoking and find out the local bar and business owners did he come and o Hers they tell ordinance the real truth and it is their input. If you go to Elkhart and go to the bar y ool tables, food vendors and so not anecdotal. It affects the venders who bring in the liquor, p forth. He also asked if this ordinance would cover and then people home h ern t � t come and me because there are a lot of business that are run through pick up what they purchased at the home. There are atures of people agai s thus and want to answered a long time ago . We have over 3,000 s gn know why these things are just popped up all of a sudden. Ferlic has been Frank Julian, 1620 South Bend Ave, stated that the data ed i he Journal of terAmerican Medical debunked as not being of sound basis and that was Association. These numbers also are based on a St. Joe County they citThere bout a neutral t of businesses left where you can smoke a cigarette. For every t A lot of the times what the economic impact there is another study that says the opposite. is neutral but it is economic studies don't mention is yes the revenue on alcoholic o and and its the small mom and places like Applebee's and T.G.I Fridays who have re g p pop bars that are hurt the most. Regarding Elkhart, of the like the American Veterants and VFW smoking bars tha the ban affected only fourteen (14) of them are left. Places do not have high margins and they can't afford to take losses eo le don't have to go out si ess. It is not difficult to find a restaurant that is smoke free now p smoking restaurant anymore. There is also no children being of ected here erc beause a ten (10) establishments that still allow smoking of these businesses. percent drop of revenue will close many Rick Ruszkowski, 233 S. Main St., thanked the Council for ehi favoo oft eir rights t Ichoos evident that the overwhelming majority of South n Bend South Bend to Cuba and China. It has been widely Some statements going as far as comparing without This broadcast that this ordinance is going t pa s for asele ed fewt Gavin Ferlic opposition. nothing more Council is nothing more than a rubber p 5 than a puppet master in control of the remaining Council. By passing this ordinance, the Council only stands to cripple a free society. Most on this Council speak of the rights to employees to work in a free society but that already exists. Employees have that freedom of choice right now. If a bartender or manager is good at their trade then the door is wide open for their choice of employment. For some on this Council to twist the numbers and say several employees complained but have fear of retribution from the owners is ignorant. We have whistle blower laws in place and protections for those employees who wish to speak out. Some on the Council have expressed the hopes that this ordinance will have a positive impact on the South Bend community. The key word is "hopes ". He cannot base his business on predicted hope but rather defined pros and cons. The Council has yet to provide a long term professional study regarding the cause and effect on our local economy. Why aren't these grants from the City and Smoke Free St. Joe to help businesses transition already being done and why are the bars and clubs who have gone smoke free not benefitting from these funds currently. The Council is just providing lip service with these programs in an attempt to pacify some opponents and have no plans to ever disperse money. This proposed ordinance will encourage patrons to go elsewhere to smoke and vape including the planned casino. The City will gain approximately $2 million dollars from the casino and maybe that's why the Council doesn't care if the privately owned business will close. There is also the political and personal gain that some on the Council seek and this will help them achieve their high political aspirations, including White House positions. This proposal may be no more than a personal victory for them. Instead of listening to the masses they are keeping their eyes on their personal agendas. Taking our Police Department and Code Enforcement to enforce this ordinance is taking valuable resources away from the protection of our city. He asks the Council to table this proposal until we can find out the real implications it would have on our city. Drew Duncan, 439 S. Michigan St., student and store manager of a vape shop in South Bend. He messaged Mr. Ferlic on FaceBook and also spoke to him on the phone about the affect this could possibly have and he claimed he does not want to hurt small businesses and Mr. Duncan believes that but this one shoe fits all businesses is ridiculous. For a vape shop, regardless of how much marketing is done their only business is allowing people to try our product. No amount of trinkets or marketing materials will keep us in town because this will force our customers elsewhere. One thing that has been greatly ignored is people do have a choice where they work, there is over 90,000 businesses in the South Bend area and people can find a place of work that does not have smoking. He advocates staunchly against smoking but that does not mean freedom of choice should be taken away. There are no citizens or workers being harmed in the vape shop. No one has come to speak with his shop because we will have to leave. We need to do a specific study on the city of South Bend and the affect his ordinance would have on businesses here. Mr. Duncan stated his love for South Bend and how we are unique and how one boot does not fit all. This is a blatant smack to the people who elected this Council and their trust. This ordinance will simply bog down our law enforcement services to do the job that matters. Warren Diltz, 1454 Garland Circle, presented a list of the Elkhart bars that closed since the ordinance passed and his beliefs for why they closed. The list and explanation is on record in the City Clerk's Office. Elkhart is a good example case because just like Elkhart people would have other bars to go to where they could smoke. These bars that closed were not the big national stores but the small neighborhood taverns. The important thing to realize is most of them are 2 now vacant buildings which is not something South Bend needs. Mr. Diltz offered is services to the city if they wished to do some type of study over the next year. His family has been putting video games, juke boxes, pool tables and other bar games in every location that would allow them to do so and bars are a big part of his business. We know exactly what happened in Elkhart and the ordinance did hurt those city bars, not a single bar in Elkhart County closed. James A. Masters, 350 Columbia St. South Bend, spoke on the behalf of Richman Master Distributer Inc. They are a wholesale distributer of products for grocery and convenience stores including tobacco products. They have 320 employees company wide and operates fifty -three (53) Low Bob's tobacco stores in the South Bend area. Six (6) of those Low Bob's are in the city limits and employ twenty -five (25) people. This proposed ordinance gives no exception to anyone and Richman Masters asks the Council to remove tobacco stores from the list of places where smoking is prohibited. Other Indiana cities that have adopted anti - smoking ordinances all expressly exempt retail tobacco stores from the ban. The business of a retail tobacco store is wholly dependent upon tobacco sales and has no other way to make up profits. Restaurants and bars have other principle profits. The courts have said exempting tobacco stores is reasonable because that is all the store can sell. It is unreasonable for South Bend not to exempt tobacco stores and this ordinance will put tobacco stores at a disadvantage to other stores in the area. It is not just the jobs in the tobacco stores that will suffer but the truck drivers, bookkeepers, officer workers and other employees of Richman Master Distributer Inc. Also, it appears to Mr. Masters that the second substitute bill is out of order and is not properly before the Council for consideration because no bill shall appear on the agenda of the regular meeting unless said bill has been filed in the City Clerk's Office before the Wednesday at noon immediately prior to said regular meeting. Both proposed substitute bills did not meet that deadline. Also, every bill is said to have to be read three (3) times and no bill shall be read the third time as the meeting it was introduced. In order for you to consider this bill you have to unanimously approve it tonight. Scott Carrico, 4202 Technology Dr., Vice - President of Richman Master Distributors spoke against the bill. It is commonsense to exempt tobacco stores from this ordinance because of their industry. Smoke free will not work for his company. For the state, local, and federal government they collect over $60 million dollars in tax. They are asking for the state law to be upheld and the exemption of tobacco stores remain in place. Our business has been here since 1936 and we do not have to be here. It would make more sense for us to be in Indianapolis by pure geography but we stay here because it is our home. A committee should be formed and they need to be a part of that discussion. Jason Nielson, 52936 Highland Dr. 46635 South Bend, stated he owns a vape shop in South Bend that deal with the liquids and devices. His business caters to adults only and people aged eighteen (18) and over are the only ones allowed in his store or on the premises. His customers include current smokers looking for a solution to quitting smoking as well as former smokers who have switched over to vaping completely. The sale of e- liquids and a wide variety of flavors comprises the bulk of his business and services provided. There is no nicotine in the sampling of flavors part of his business. The flavor testing portion is critical to his business because it allows customers to try before they buy. Allowing vaping in a vape shop makes common sense. No customer is keen on buying blindly and will drive customers to other vape shops where they can 7 test the products in the shop. This ordinance will force him to close his doors and it will push more revenue in the form of taxes to Mishawaka. Shawn Anderson, 1421 Holly Ridge Run Fort Wayne, represented an emerging trade association for the vaping industry called Indiana Smoke Free Alliance. The New York bill and other successful ordinances referenced in the presentation have exemptions for vape businesses. The CDC numbers on the vaping health risks has been debunked by Harvard University. Indianapolis also has exemptions for tobacco and vaping shops and that ban is working well. This ordinance does not define or delineate between vaping and smoking which is a problem. Mr. Anderson provided flash drives that have research on vaping products and how clean the air is even when someone is vaping in the room. Normal air has nine (9) micrograms of particulate in the air while a room being vaped in has nine point five four (9.54) micrograms of particulate in the air. A room being smoked in has over fifty -four (54) micrograms. Comparing vaping to smoking is like comparing apples to oranges Mitch Zultanksi, 1516 N. Ironwood, stated he is the owner of Mitch's Second Corner Sports Bar. He has asked the Councilmembers if they have spoken to the employees of smoking establishments to see if they want this ordinance and at least three (3) have said they have not spoken to any employees. If we are trying to protect people from their choice of where to work, the least you could do is speak to those people who you are claiming to protect and not make decisions for them. Regarding the recession in Elkhart, bars are known as recession proof, people will always go to their local bar and drink and some studies show bars thrive during recessions. When Indianapolis smoking ban went into affect a lot of little local bars did close and the same with Evansville and Fort Wayne. Mr Zultanski claimed he knew this because membership in the Indiana License Beverage Association from those cities during each of the ban fell. The big companies and bars do not get hurt or they are able to survive but for the local owned bars it definitely hurts. Karl Nichols has never has never given the number of how many employees from bars have actually called him to say they support this ban. Gary King, 730 N. Hill St., stated it is strange for him to be in this position because he has never smoked in his life but people have the knowledge to make their own decisions as people have stated many times. Take seriously that it is important to make the exception for some businesses by say certificate or license to be permitted to allow smoking in their establishments. It might even behoove some of the bars to become retail tobacco outlets because some in Michigan have done that. Pat Mulligan, 1705 South Bend Ave., this ordinance will murder our businesses. Mr Mulligan loves this City and this community. He implored the Council to think real hard tonight about this decision because it will murder these bars. Lets not reinvent the wheel and be happy that every bar here are tax payers. He pledged his support for the Council and the City in every issue except this issue. Mr. Mulligan commented on his friendship with Mr. Ferlic's father and that he comes in to smoke a cigar occasionally at Mulligans. Other prominent officials, including Mayor Pete, come in and mingle with blue collar workers and smoke a cigar. It is a great place for everyone to mingle. Mr. Mulligan asked to not have Mr. Ferlic's father forced outside. Let's all make this community better. We need to focus on the important issues and not taking smoking away from veterans and mom and pop bars. Mr. Mulligan asked will you close the South Bend Chocolate E3 Caf6 next because chocolate is unhealthy. We cant police people and every single thing they do in their lives. If you pass this it will murder these bars. Brian Geirnaert, 19690 Gilmber St., stated he shops, drinks, and smokes in South Bend at these establishments. He runs a bar in Mishawaka and he welcomes this ordinance business wise because his business will increase. These bars will suffer and business will leave South Bend. Councilmember Oliver Davis made a motion to send Bill 11 -16 to the full Council with no recommendation. Councilmember Karen White seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four (4) ayes. With no further business before the Health & Public Safety Committee, Chairperson John Voorde adjourned the meeting at 5:09 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Z� John Voo , Are �..� 0