TALLADEGA — The City Council essentially held an open forum Monday night to discuss possible revisions to a ban on smoking in nearly all public buildings in the city passed by the previous administration. No action was taken during the meeting, however.Owners of several restaurants and bars in the city complained their smoking customers were moving on to other establishments outside the city limits, where the ban cannot be enforced, and asked for the ban to be made optional for such businesses. Council President Dr. Horace Patterson appointed Councilmen Donnie Mille and Eddie Tucker to study the issue and report back Monday night.
“I was willing to compromise, even though I felt it was wrong, but I was willing to try and make everybody happy. But Miller just says let the businesses decide for themselves. I would be willing to restrict it to bars after 10 or 11 p.m.,” Tucker said.
At least one of the business owners present said she is not open that late.
“I don’t think we’re in a position to change the ordinance,” Tucker said. “It’s like you only want to let people decide for themselves, and I think we shouldn’t let them do that. Besides, research says that second hand smoke is worse for people with asthma and emphysema. …”
”I don’t smoke myself, but I am a business owner,” Miller said. “We’re a small town. We don’t have any chain restaurants here, the sit-down restaurants we do have are locally owned. Taking away part of someone’s business hurts. Nobody’s cutting our costs for power or business licenses or health department licenses. No one gets dragged into a bar here. No one passes through Talladega to get something to eat. People here go to specific restaurants. At Fincher’s and Stampede, no smoking signs are already up, and their patrons know that. I don’t have a sit-down restaurant anymore, but if I did, I’d have one up, too. But all we’re doing is sending business to the restaurants in the county and hurting the ones in the city.”
Tucker said making the ban optional would essentially gut the ordinance. Miller said his proposal would apply only to sit-down restaurants.
Councilman Dr. Jimmy Davis said he was also staunchly opposed to smoking but agreed with Miller’s position. Councilman Dr. Lance Grissett said he was still undecided, since he had had close family members to die of lung cancer.
“But I’m still wrestling with that, with what’s best for the city,” he said.
The floor was then opened to the public. The majority spoke in favor of Miller’s proposal.
“I’m a non-smoker, but the ban hurts business, so I say turn it back over to the owners,” one resident said.
Yet another speaker favoring the repeal said it would affect only about five local establishments, leaving at least 40 other places in town for non-smokers to patronize.
“We’ll separate ourselves as we have for years,” he said. “And if you want to ban smoking, why don’t you stop collecting a tax on it, too,” he said.
Another said she had previously worked as a bar tender, but since the smoking ban, bar traffic had dwindled to virtually nothing. “If you don’t want people to smoke, tell the grocery and convenience store owners to quit selling cigarettes,” she said.
Someone characterizing himself as an ex-smoker said, “I chose to quit, the city didn’t tell me to. I guess next you’ll be telling me I have to go on a diet. If 21 percent of people smoke, then give them the chance to make up their mind to quit, too. This foolishness is just silly.”
Another audience member, who said she was not prepared to speak publicly but felt compelled to, said, “I am an advocate for non-smoking, but I say listen to the business owners. It’s my choice not to smoke, and it’s my choice not to visit businesses that allow smoking, as is my right. Everybody goes to Wal-Mart, everybody goes to the courthouse, everyone comes here to City Hall, and you shouldn’t be allowed to smoke in those places. I don’t have to go to a bar.”
The last speaker on behalf of the change said she was 76 years old, raised on a tobacco farm and worked in bars all her life, and was currently in better physical condition than most of her other family members.
Only two speakers came out in favor of the status quo. The first, representing FIRST Family Services, did not speak but did present the council with a fact sheet and letters from sixth-graders.
The second, a social worker with the county health department, said, “Government always tells us what to do. Smoke endangers people. I have asthma, and have had attacks triggered by cigarettes. I just buried an uncle with larynx cancer. And what about the kids? They have no choice. There is no safe amount of second hand smoke.”
Also Monday, the council voted unanimously to restore an employee in the Parks and Recreation Department to his previous pay grade after city manager Sue Horn determined he had been being paid improperly for the past year and a half or so.
Patterson and Tucker, the only two incumbent candidates who were re-elected in 2007, said they both thought the two step increase had been voted on and approved, but there was apparently no record of any such vote. According to Patterson, the correction meant this employee was losing about $1 per hour, through no fault of his or his department head’s.
The difference in pay was discovered during the course of a major correction for all city employees that was discovered when trying to implement a 3 percent cost-of-living increase.
“We got our audit in February,” Miller said. “Why didn’t we find out about this then?”
After the vote to fix the Parks and Recreation Department employee’s salary, Patterson indicated he believed some other employees were finding discrepancies, and encouraged them to approach their department heads.
Horn said that would be easier now that the underlying issue with the pay scale had been addressed. “We just put them on the scale, got them their 3 percent going back to October and made sure their overtime was calculated properly.”
Tucker said the system was too complicated to be left up to individual department heads.
Miller agreed, and said payroll should be handled by the city’s personnel clerk.
“They do go through her,” Horn said, “but some things slip through.”
Grissett said some employees may be afraid to come forward questioning their new pay, but he said they should not be.
“I need a person to blame or praise on this,” Patterson said.
“The buck stops here,” Horn replied.
“I don’t want us to have to go back and deal with this every meeting,” Davis said. “This needs to get fixed.”
”It took forever, but they did get their 3 percent by Christmas,” Grissett said. “Just make sure everybody gets their sheet (explaining how the pay was calculated).”
Also Monday, the council:
O Heard a presentation from Civil Service Board Chairman Frank Miller regarding inconsistencies between the state civil service act and the city’s rules and regulations, vagaries in the employee handbook, and more complete access to those rules and regulations for employees.
O Approved an expenditure not to exceed $5,500 for Jerry Vincent to “glaze” city vehicles in the Police and Fire departments.
O Heard Thomas Beavers express concern about the towing companies on the city’s rotation schedule.
O Saw Mayor Brian York administer the oath of office to airport board members Jesse Brown and Wilby Wallace.
O Appointed Chuck Johnson to the airport board. Johnson was subsequently sworn in by York as well.
O Approved invoices and expenditures for the Water Department by a vote of 4-1, with Tucker dissenting.
O Appointed Mike Thomas, Don Huddleston and Mike Challender to the new Recreation Advisory Board.
O Unanimously approved $25 grocery gift certificates for all city employees.
O Heard Horn say that lights would be put on the new power poles on Stone Hollow Lane and Talladega Downs.
O Heard Horn announce there would have to be a called meeting before the end of the year to approve mandatory changes to the licensing ordinance.
O Heard Davis announce he was touring his ward every morning by bicycle, and encouraged any of his constituents with concerns to call him.
O Heard Davis say he would like to re-examine the possibility of curbside recycling when the city renegotiates its garbage contract.
O Announced Miller and York would be negotiating the donation of former Army property in Brecon from the county to the city.
O Agreed to give employees half a day off on Friday. City offices will close at noon.
