By Jonathan Smith, Managing Editor

Citizens will have the chance to voice their opinions on a proposed city smoking ordinance to City Council members Thursday at 8:30 a.m. in the Abilene Civic Center.

The ordinance would ban smoking in most indoor public places, including private businesses where the public can gather. Place 2 City Council member Kris Southward proposed the idea to the City Council after several citizens asked him if the city had considered a stronger smoking ordinance.

“It’s a health issue,” Southward said. “Anytime someone brings up a health issue, then it kind of gets your attention.

“I think without a doubt, second-hand smoke is a health risk to those that inhale it,” Southward said. “Since it’s a health risk, I think the City Council has to look at what to do with that risk.”

Kay Alexander, place 6 City Council member, said she has seen a ratio of almost 3-1 in favor of the ban. Southward said the response he’s received has been slightly in favor of the ban.

“My personal opinion is that we ought to ban it from all public places,” Southward said. “If we’re going to err, we need to err on the side of caution.”

Several states have smoking bans in place, and even though Texas is not one of them, many cities, including Lubbock, Dallas, Austin and El Paso, Southward said, have enacted stricter ordinances.

Some businesses claim government should not regulate the issue. Southward said that should not be the case.

“Government intrudes into the lives of businesses on health issues every day,” he said. “They inspect restaurants for health issues. We do lots of things in the name of health, and I think this is just one more where we’re trying to look out for the health of the public.”

Southward said some cities with smoking bans have shown increases economically while others show decreases.

“I think it may hurt just a little at first,” Southward said. “Some smokers may rebel trying to show that this will hurt economically. I think all in all, the effects will be negligible.”

Thursday’s hearing, which will allow citizens who wish to talk three minutes each, will help determine what the people of Abilene think.

“I think we all want to try to protect the health of each other as much as possible,” Southward said. “I think this is just one more area where we’re going to try protect the health of workers and patrons from this carcinogen.”