Wasilla considers banning smoking in public places

June 17, 2005

DARRELL L. BREESE/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - Dorothy Dombreck didn't resolve to quit smoking for the new year, but if a Wasilla City Council member gets his way, she'll have to quell her habit at least while dining out.

The proposed ordinance introduced during Monday's council meeting will allow smoking in bars but ban lighting up in restaurants, places of employment and other public places.

Council Member Noel Lowe was so troubled by the smoke while eating breakfast with his family at the Windbreak Café that he complained to the manager.

"I was trying to enjoy a breakfast with my kids and we couldn't because of the smoke," Lowe said. "That's when I decided that something needed to be done. Something that would allow people to enjoy themselves when they go out to eat without worrying about carcinogens in the air from secondhand smoke."

The manager at the Windbreak surprised Lowe when he told him the restaurant was going smoke-free.

"Why not all of Wasilla?" Lowe said he asked himself.

That encounter and concern for the public's health inspired him to draft the ordinance. Set for public hearing during the next regular council meeting June 27, if approved, the ordinance would implement the smoking ban.

Lowe said it's time Wasilla addressed the serious public health problem caused by secondhand smoke.

He said nearly 125 people in the state die from the effects of secondhand smoke each year.

"This will save lives," said Lowe. "It's not a nuisance issue. It's a public health issue."

A similar smoking ban in restaurants exists in Anchorage and in seven states - New York, California, Connecticut, Utah, Vermont, Delaware and Maine. At least 200 cities and counties in other states have individual bans in place as well.

Dombreck, a homemaker, comes from a family of small business owners and believes businesses should be able to make their own decisions.

"Local business owners should be in control of their restaurants," Dombreck said. "Restaurants who want to go smoke-free can. That is what the state law is. It's good enough for me."

Lowe said he considered the rights of society as a whole when developing the ordinance.

"I understand that businesses and individuals feel they have the right to smoke or allow smoking," Lowe said. "I support that, smoking is a legal activity. However, traditionally when government has had to step in, it's when the exercising of those individual rights can cause harm to others, and has impeded their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That said, I support the right of non-smokers to breathe clean air when in public places."

Members of the American Cancer Society attended Monday's meeting and distributed a CD and pamphlets on the ill effects of smoking and secondhand smoke to council members following adjournment.

Public hearing for this ordinance will begin at 7 p.m. during the city council's regular meeting. The council meets at Wasilla City Hall, 290 E. Herning Ave.

Darrell Breese may be reached at 352-2267 or darrell.breese@frontiersman.com.