FILLMORE : City Rejects Public Ban on Smoking

The city of Fillmore will not ban smoking in restaurants and other public establishments, despite pleas from public health and American Lung Assn. officials.

Instead, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to draft a less-stringent ordinance that would ban smoking only in city-owned facilities.

Councilman Roger Campbell said he would like to see business owners voluntarily adopt a smoking policy but does not want one forced upon them. “I don’t think government should tell business owners--in any way, shape or form--what they can or cannot do,” Campbell said.

Nan Waltman, senior health educator with Ventura County Public Health Services, urged the council to make the ordinance all-encompassing. “I commend the city for wanting to have their own facilities smoke-free,” she said. “But what about workers at other places of business? They can’t always rely on the place of work for safety.”

City officials said a final draft of the ordinance will probably be voted on March 9.

If the City Council passes the action to ban smoking in city-owned facilities, Santa Paula would be the only city in Ventura County not to have some kind of smoking legislation, Waltman said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Pat Casiano, a community educator with the local chapter of the American Lung Assn., cited a recent federal report that deemed tobacco smoke to be a Class A carcinogen for smokers and nonsmokers alike. There is no safe level of exposure, she said.

“This is not an anti-smoker . . . issue,” Waltman said. “This is a public health concern.”