{"id":1388,"date":"2018-04-04T01:22:13","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T06:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/?p=1388"},"modified":"2018-05-31T15:32:58","modified_gmt":"2018-05-31T20:32:58","slug":"smoking-ordinance-passed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/","title":{"rendered":"Smoking Ordinance Passed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Garland City Council chose this evening by a vote of 6-3 (Nickerson, Smith, Athas in opposition) to strengthen its no smoking ordinances. The full and final text of that ordinance will be published in the coming days, as we did have amendments from the dais. The short version is that smoking will no longer be allowed in restaurants. Private clubs are grandfathered in under the new rules.<\/p>\n

I opposed this change largely due to my belief in private property rights, and the rights of consenting adults to make decisions about their health and the type of environment they want to be in. My remarks from the discussion prior to the final vote are below:<\/p>\n

\nThe proposed smoking ordinances include a number of exemptions.<\/p>\n

So far they exempt:<\/p>\n

Cars: except for those that aren\u2019t fully enclosed, so if you drive a convertible or open top vehicle, then you\u2019re out of luck. You also can\u2019t smoke if you park in a parking garage where there\u2019s a concentration of exhaust fumes anyways.<\/p>\n

You can smoke in Bingo Halls \u2013 because obviously if you work or play in a Bingo parlor you aren\u2019t susceptible to cancer, so let\u2019s strike that.<\/p>\n

Private clubs that may or may not be 501c3s \u2013 somehow it\u2019s different being around smokers if the organization doesn\u2019t make any money. I don\u2019t see that as being inherently healthier. Some are proposing that veterans of foreign wars can risk their lives defending our country, but cigars are a no-no.<\/p>\n

You can smoke on golf courses \u2013 which are no different than any other outdoor, public area. But somehow those are okay too. Especially when the city owns the main golf course, right?<\/p>\n

Council, when we make an argument for public health, but then we add in provisions for special interests based solely on economic reasons, then we\u2019re creating different classes of citizens. We\u2019re saying that it\u2019s okay to smoke if you belong to this club, but under others you can\u2019t. These are the types of special interest carve-outs that tend to infuriate the public. It means that this club, that bar, or our public golf course doesn\u2019t have to follow the rules for economic, not health reasons.<\/p>\n

It would seem right now that I\u2019m making an argument for a total, comprehensive ban on smoking. No. What I\u2019m doing is arguing against a loss of freedom for the private sector to make these decisions on their own. If we incrementally ban smoking, we play King and decide who gets special privileges along the way. If we fully ban it now, then it\u2019s yet another right that we\u2019ve taken away from private sector. <\/p>\n

The argument\u2019s been made that we should ban smoking in the name of employee health, but what a slippery slope that is:
\n\u2022\t15% of the population is allergic to cats and dogs. 30% of people with asthma are allergic as well. Should companion pets be banned in public for health reasons?
\n\u2022\tShould heavy perfumes and colognes be banned as well? They set off my allergies.
\n\u2022\tFluorescent lighting gives me headaches. Should I apply for a job where that type of lighting exists and then petition this council to ban it in the name of my health?<\/p>\n

The answer to all of those things is \u2018no\u2019.<\/p>\n

If I walk into a smoking establishment, then with that comes the expectation of being around cigarette smoke whether or not I\u2019m an employee or a patron. And it\u2019s a choice that I as an adult can make on my own. It isn\u2019t something that this council should dictate to our residents, and now speaking as a private citizen it\u2019s not a decision that should be taken away from me.<\/p>\n

To sum up: I don\u2019t want special interests to receive special treatment. I don\u2019t want to see people lose their rights as consenting adults. I intend to vote against changes to the smoking ordinances that affect the private sector, and I would urge the rest of you to do the same.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a difficult issue. From the perspective of public health, this is a win for health and safety. All of us can agree on the fact that less smoke in our lungs is a good thing. But my concern is the incremental stripping away of rights of individuals.<\/p>\n

I appreciate the large number of constituents that made an effort to attend all of our public hearings and work sessions. Your testimony was well-received by many members of the council, and we appreciate you giving up your evenings to come talk with us.<\/p>\n

The new ordinance will become law within the next 30-45 days.<\/p>\n

Article by The Garland Texan: http:\/\/thegarlandtexan.com\/garland-adopts-stricter-smoking-ordinance\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Garland City Council chose this evening by a vote of 6-3 (Nickerson, Smith, Athas in opposition) to strengthen its no smoking ordinances. The full and final text of that ordinance will be published in the coming days, as we Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-council","category-policy"],"yoast_head":"\nSmoking Ordinance Passed - Robert John Smith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smoking Ordinance Passed - Robert John Smith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Garland City Council chose this evening by a vote of 6-3 (Nickerson, Smith, Athas in opposition) to strengthen its no smoking ordinances. The full and final text of that ordinance will be published in the coming days, as we Read More ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Robert John Smith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/robertjsmith24\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robertjsmith24\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-04T06:22:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-31T20:32:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/No_Smoking_xtrasm.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"294\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"279\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rjsmith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@robertjsmithtx\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@robertjsmithtx\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rjsmith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"rjsmith\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fe9997b2d7aa4355c272c5a35f2e44b7\"},\"headline\":\"Smoking Ordinance Passed\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-04T06:22:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-31T20:32:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":803,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/No_Smoking_xtrasm.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Council\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smoking Ordinance Passed - Robert John Smith\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/No_Smoking_xtrasm.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-04T06:22:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-31T20:32:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fe9997b2d7aa4355c272c5a35f2e44b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/No_Smoking_xtrasm.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/No_Smoking_xtrasm.png\",\"width\":294,\"height\":279},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/04\\\/smoking-ordinance-passed\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Smoking Ordinance Passed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Robert John Smith\",\"description\":\"Former Garland City Council Member, District 8\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fe9997b2d7aa4355c272c5a35f2e44b7\",\"name\":\"rjsmith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/77845bf8f226972685af9057c04efb4d99d014dd7887f0d2e4debcde704a00d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/77845bf8f226972685af9057c04efb4d99d014dd7887f0d2e4debcde704a00d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/77845bf8f226972685af9057c04efb4d99d014dd7887f0d2e4debcde704a00d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"rjsmith\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/robertjsmith24\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/robertjsmithtx\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCnA3tVzmcjg6BF6xGVKlj6w\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/robertjsmithtx.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/rjsmith\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Smoking Ordinance Passed - Robert John Smith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Smoking Ordinance Passed - Robert John Smith","og_description":"The Garland City Council chose this evening by a vote of 6-3 (Nickerson, Smith, Athas in opposition) to strengthen its no smoking ordinances. The full and final text of that ordinance will be published in the coming days, as we Read More ...","og_url":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/","og_site_name":"Robert John Smith","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/robertjsmith24","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robertjsmith24\/","article_published_time":"2018-04-04T06:22:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-05-31T20:32:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":294,"height":279,"url":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/No_Smoking_xtrasm.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"rjsmith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@robertjsmithtx","twitter_site":"@robertjsmithtx","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rjsmith","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/"},"author":{"name":"rjsmith","@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9997b2d7aa4355c272c5a35f2e44b7"},"headline":"Smoking Ordinance Passed","datePublished":"2018-04-04T06:22:13+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-31T20:32:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/"},"wordCount":803,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/No_Smoking_xtrasm.png","articleSection":["Council","Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/","url":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/","name":"Smoking Ordinance Passed - Robert John Smith","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/No_Smoking_xtrasm.png","datePublished":"2018-04-04T06:22:13+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-31T20:32:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9997b2d7aa4355c272c5a35f2e44b7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/No_Smoking_xtrasm.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/No_Smoking_xtrasm.png","width":294,"height":279},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/04\/smoking-ordinance-passed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Smoking Ordinance Passed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/","name":"Robert John Smith","description":"Former Garland City Council Member, District 8","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9997b2d7aa4355c272c5a35f2e44b7","name":"rjsmith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77845bf8f226972685af9057c04efb4d99d014dd7887f0d2e4debcde704a00d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77845bf8f226972685af9057c04efb4d99d014dd7887f0d2e4debcde704a00d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77845bf8f226972685af9057c04efb4d99d014dd7887f0d2e4debcde704a00d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"rjsmith"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robertjsmith24\/","https:\/\/x.com\/robertjsmithtx","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCnA3tVzmcjg6BF6xGVKlj6w"],"url":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/author\/rjsmith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1388"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1484,"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388\/revisions\/1484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertjsmithtx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}