COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:

As a resident of Burbank, I can appreciate the controversy surrounding Glendale’s proposed smoking ban (“Smoking ban still unsettled,” July 31).

I was initially opposed to the smoking ordinance that we adopted in Burbank, and though I think it has its negatives and it is sometimes a little too far reaching, overall, I admit, it has worked and it has been successful.

I do believe it is in Glendale’s best interest to adopt a similar measure.

That being said, it might also be in everyone’s best interest to leave Glendale City Councilman Dave Weaver alone (“Weaver’s remarks slammed,” Aug. 7).

I’ve been keeping up on it and I can say that everything I have seen points to Weaver having no bias or prejudice against anyone.

The lone statement he made that is being targeted is, there is “a lot of opposition from one segment of the population that loves to smoke.”

And the furor arises from the words put in his mouth by a Pasadena Weekly reporter who claimed Weaver’s comment was referring to the city’s substantial and politically influential Armenian community.

So why are people so outraged and certain that Weaver himself was referencing to Armenians?

If he was, maybe he’s right.

According to the Center for Communications, Health and the Environment, 70% of native Armenians smoke, the highest percentage in that part of the world.

Glendale’s Armenian population is about 80,000 strong. According to the American Public Health Association, 77% of Armenian men smoke.

Given those statistics, it might be a safe bet that yes, if Weaver was referring to Armenians then the largest portion of smokers in Glendale are Armenian.

Then again, he could be way off. See, those 80,000 Armenians are only about 40% of Glendale’s population.

And, according to the Armenian National Committee-Glendale Chapter, 61% of respondents to a recent survey don’t smoke.

That means Armenians are both a minority in Glendale and a minority of the city’s smokers.

Accepting all that, Weaver’s comments were identifying only smokers and no one else.

The newspaper in which the article appeared and the reporter have both apologized for the statement.

So what’s the problem?

Seems to me people are looking for a reason to be angry, as if they’re deliberately looking for a reason to brand someone as a bigot.

I know people who say they don’t support Sen. Barack Obama for president and they’re automatically branded as racists.

Doing so is the same mentality as accusing Weaver of being prejudiced.

In other words, simplistic.

Maybe some people just don’t like Obama’s policies.

And maybe, when Weaver says smokers he just means smokers and not Armenians.

 JESSE L. BYERS is a Burbank resident.