City Council members agree they would like to prevent tobacco use around municipal playgrounds and picnic areas, but clashed on how it should be done. At a Monday committee of the whole meeting, the council decided a policy banning tobacco use in parks would be unenforceable and unpopular. “I see it as a start to things I absolutely don’t like — people telling me how to live my life,” Councilor R. Storm Cilley said. “We can’t totally ban a legal activity, and I am not in favor of passing laws and policies that would put penalties in place.”
Instead, the council decided to erect signs asking people not to smoke in park areas used by children.
“I think that is what people are asking for — a voluntary cessation,” City Manager Philip A. Cosmo said. “That policy can be ‘we currently ask; we hope people will voluntarily comply.’”
Benjamin R. Todd, program coordinator from the St. Lawrence County Tobacco Free Community Partnership, will help the city draft the signs.
“It is about respect for others and respect for the environment,” he said. “It is about creating that health awareness.”
There would be no new law for city police to enforce, and no penalty for people who ignore the signs.
“It needs to sound as if it is a policy and not just a courtesy,” Councilor Jennifer Stevenson said. “I think if we have a policy and the signage, people are going to comply.”
On the other hand, Ms. Stevenson said, she wanted to respect the rights of her tobacco-using constituents.
“I am very much a non-smoker, but I do represent everyone,” she said. “Where are we going to push the smokers to? People are smoking on the other side of the street, which just pushes the issue to the neighbors. It is a tough issue and you have to balance everything perfectly. In a perfect world, people are still going to smoke; those people are going to enjoy the outdoors.”
The city’s tobacco-use policy should be fair and applied equally, Deputy Mayor Michael D. Morley said.
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