Anaheim : Smoking Ban Approved for Council Chambers

At the request of avowed nonsmoker Mayor Pro Tem Miriam Kaywood, a majority of the City Council on Tuesday banned smoking in the council chamber. Mayor Ben Bay, the council’s lone smoker, abstained.

“I still feel that it is discriminating against people who want to attend these meetings and smoke in their little areas,” Bay said.

Previously, smokers could light up in the rear of the council chamber and on the dais, where the council members sit each Tuesday, usually for daylong meetings.

“I don’t believe in laws that tell me I have to wear a seat belt. I don’t believe in laws that tell me I have to stop smoking altogether,” Bay said. “No matter how many laws you make, you are not going to stop people from doing what they like in this free country.”

Last March, a majority of the council adopted a no-smoking law that is considered one of the stiffest in Southern California. But when it was passed, the council, in a 3-2 vote, denied Kaywood’s request to include a ban on smoking in the council chambers.

Kaywood, who often has complained that she is bothered by Bay’s smoking, said she revived the matter after reading the latest U.S. surgeon general’s report, which called for smoke-free work environments after concluding that exposure to smoke can cause lung cancer in nonsmokers.

Councilman Irv Pickler, who supported the smoking ban, noted that people who attend council meetings can smoke in a foyer outside the chamber, where loudspeakers broadcast council discussions. “We should not jeopardize the lives of other people,” he said.

Councilman Fred Hunter voted for the ban but criticized its timing, saying, “We’re spending too much time on a political issue.”

A victorious Kaywood was pleased that “the public will be protected” by the ban but added that she was unhappy that it did not also cover an adjacent conference room where council members hold closed sessions.

Before Tuesday’s closed session, Bay excused himself to the outer foyer, saying he wanted to light up a cigarette before heading to the conference room because “I can’t smoke in there.”