Snuff those butts?

WASILLA — That city employees are allowed to smoke in city vehicles has at least one councilman fuming.

Councilman Steve Menard wants to prohibit using tobacco products in vehicles owned by the city and will ask the council to support his position on Monday. Menard tried to pass the resolution once before, only to have it voted down by the council.

“I just think it’s ridiculous that we allow smoking in city-owned vehicles,” Menard said. “This isn’t the ’70s anymore.”

City rules allow Wasilla city employees to smoke in city vehicles if they are the primary users, Public Works Director Archie Giddings said. Employees using vehicle s that are routinely shared are not allowed to smoke in them.

Giddings also said the city only occasionally hears from workers who feel some cars smell too much like cigarettes.

“Occasionally, we get complaints,” Giddings said.

That’s something Menard said he wants to stop, along with bringing the rules in line with those prohibiting smoking in public buildings. Smoking is not allowed inside Wasilla City Hall.

Furthermore, Menard said, it makes the city look bad if a resident rides in a city vehicle that reeks of smoke.

Giddings said one advantage of prohibiting smoking in city vehicles could come when trying to resell them.

Menard, who used to work as a dealer at Nye Frontier Ford, which is now Kendall Ford, said when a car was traded in, the smell of cigarette smoke immediately dropped its value. Beyond trade-in values, Menard said city vehicles simply aren’t the property of those using them.

“My issue is, it’s a city-owned vehicle,” Menard said. “If it’s your personal vehicle, do whatever you want in it, but it’s a city vehicle.”

The Wasilla Police Department also follows city rules regarding smoking in city-owned vehicles, Chief Angella Long said.

Long said only city employees who have exclusive use of a particular car may smoke in that vehicle. Since Wasilla officers are assigned a car, which they use every day, they may smoke in that vehicle if they choose.

Also on tap

Also on the council’s agenda for Monday is the possibility of another no-confidence vote for Wasilla Mayor Dianne M. Keller.

The resolution, also sponsored by Menard, was pulled from the council’s June 30 agenda after it voted 4-1 requesting Keller resign. That vote came in the wake of an independent investigation that says the mayor and some city administrators worked behind-the-scenes to benefit a developer. Menard said he pulled his resolution at that time because, after the resignation vote, he felt it would have been redundant.

Keller has said she will not resign and plans to finish her term, which ends in October.

Menard, who is a candidate for mayor, said he wants to keep the issue of Keller’s alleged actions on council’s agenda until she resigns or leaves office.

He called it “keeping the pressure on.”

“I don’t want this issue to go under the table,” Menard said. “I want satisfaction.”

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@yahoo.com or 352-2252.