Laserfiche WebLink
Regular Council Meeting <br />February 10, 2014 <br />Page 7 <br />Tamesha, manager for Lucky Vapor — she said she worked at a vapor store and e- <br />cigarettes should not be prohibited. <br />Rita McFatridge, employee of McKee's for 23 years — she said she opposed the ban, <br />because of the rights of property owners. <br />Wesley Tidwell, Crockett Jr. High School student — he said when he researched the facts <br />that one in every three people died from a tobacco related disease. <br />Elizabeth Anderson — she said she was against the smoking ordinance, because she had <br />rights. <br />Jim Petikus — Crockett Jr. High School student — he asked people to please not smoke in <br />public places, because it hurt other people. <br />Christopher Michael — on behalf of business owners, he asked that scientific data on e- <br />cigarettes be provided. <br />With no one else speaking, Mayor Hashmi closed the public hearing. <br />Mayor Hashmi said this was an important issue and hot topic, because it dealt with public <br />health and protection of rights. He said after hearing both sides, they needed to find a balance <br />and recommended a task force be formed comprised of an equal number from both sides to <br />review the ordinance. Council Member Wright said it was unfair to have children exposed to <br />second hand smoke, that there was too much government and said he would be fine with a task <br />force. Council Member Drake said they needed to review this in depth and would like to see a <br />task force formed. Council Member Jenkins said the biggest issue was protection of the <br />children, that he wanted to get more information on the e- cigarettes and favored a task force. <br />Council Member Frierson said he could not support the ordinance in its entirety; he wanted to <br />know how it was going to be enforced and was leaning more toward this being a business owner <br />right. Council Member Lancaster said she was in favor of a task force to study the issues. <br />Council Member Grossnickle said the Council was dodging this issue and there were countries <br />which had banned smoking in public. He also said CVS had that very day decided to stop selling <br />tobacco products. He said he was in support of the ordinance and he expressed concern about <br />kids thinking e- cigarettes were cool. Council Member Grossnickle said the public pays the tax <br />bill for irresponsibility. Mayor Hashmi said he was for a smoking ordinance in which both sides <br />were good with the conclusion. <br />