Comments for No Butts Allowed at http://www.goodtimessantacruz.com , comment 1 to 2 out of 2 comments http://www.goodtimessantacruz.com Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:11:29 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.goodtimessantacruz.com/santa-cruz-news/santa-cruz-local-news/176-no-butts-allowed.html#comment-49 It is a myth that the anti-smoking ordinance was passed with "little opposition." The Task Force that held it one, lone public meeting didn't hear from a single cigarette smoker, much less an organization that represents smokers. LAURA LANG of the County Health Department mouthed rubber science about the "dangers" of 2nd hand smoke. Virtually everything she said was incorrect. Not a single representative of homeless people or their advocates were invited or attended the little noticed meeting. Even worse, the task force notes never made it into the final package for the public and council to consider before the vote. Only when HUFF member, ROBERT NORSE, contacted councilmember DON LANE 3 times, did DON copy and paste his copy into an e-mail. So ROBERT NORSE and myself were the ONLY members of the public that got to see the notes from that task force meeting before the first reading, and that was only 24 hours before it passed. No wonder CYNTHIA MATHEWS brags about their being "little opposition." Apparently it was designed that way. The online SENTINEL poll showed a full third of those responding were opposed including many non-smokers who feel the ban is too broad and too punitive. Here, the GOODTIMES reporters found that fully a half of those who were aware of the ordinance, were opposed. I now see many MANY smokers openly violating the ordinance, some of them quite militantly. The City has a real enforcement problem on their hands and considering how it was passed, they deserve that backlash. - Becky Johnson Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:08:35 +0100 http://www.goodtimessantacruz.com/santa-cruz-news/santa-cruz-local-news/176-no-butts-allowed.html#comment-46 [quote]Councilmember Don Lane, who has been involved with homeless services for many years, assures that this is not the council’s agenda. “I worked to make sure that this ordinance was fair and not discriminatory,” he says. “This is why the ordinance applies to every part of Santa Cruz—not only to downtown. [/quote] When Don Lane was on the board of homeless services he and Katherine Beiers voted to deny services, and particularly emergency and temporary housing to medical marijuana patients. As for his assertion that by discriminating against smokers city-wide he is not discriminating, that is typical city council double-talk. These are the kind of people that will remove ashtrays and then complain about cigarette butts. - J. Craig Canada Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:22:13 +0100