GARDEN GROVE : Council Votes to Put 2 Measures on Ballot

Residents will vote Nov. 6 on smoking restrictions in the workplace and will give the City Council advice on how to fill a council vacancy.

The council voted to put both those issues on the ballot and rejected two other proposed initiatives aimed at restricting oil drilling in the city and banning the sale of fireworks.

The council voted 4 to 1 (with Councilman Frank Kessler in opposition) to put a binding measure before voters that would limit smoking in public areas and in places with four or more employees.

The ordinance, proposed by Councilman J. Tilman Williams, is based on one adopted in Huntington Beach and would restrict smoking to designated areas in many businesses.

Council members also voted to ask the electorate whether they should choose the first runner-up in the last council race to fill any vacancy caused when a member is elected or appointed to higher political office.

That measure, which is advisory, is in response to past political deadlocks when the council could not agree on a replacement.

Mayor W.E. (Walt) Donovan said the measure might save the city the cost of a special election by influencing the council to make an appointment.

Each item on the ballot will cost Garden Grove an estimated $5,000, according to City Clerk Carolyn Morris.

The council rejected a proposal to put on the ballot a ban on oil drilling within 800 feet of a home, school or church. An anti-drilling group is working to qualify such an initiative for the ballot.

Finally, a proposal by Williams to prohibit fireworks in Garden Grove failed to make the ballot for lack of a second.