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Frankfort, KY Passes Ban on Smoking

Ordinance targets public buildings

By Emily Yahr Herald-Leader (Kentucky)

FRANKFORT - The mood was celebratory last night at a Frankfort city council meeting after the second reading of a smoking ban passed 3-2, effectively becoming a law.

About 25 people in attendance broke into loud applause when Mayor William May Jr. cast the final and deciding vote, which made Frankfort the latest in a string of Kentucky cities to become smoke-free in public buildings.

"I've been waiting 12 years for this," May said. "It's been a long road, and I applaud the efforts of both sides. Members of the community and visitors to Frankfort will benefit from this ordinance."

The ban will be enacted as soon as the written law is published, which will be "hopefully as soon as possible," May said.

The atmosphere was drastically different than that of the last meeting, when outraged citizens and business owners spoke out against the ban. That night, an amendment that would have limited the ban to health care facilities and places children are allowed was killed 3-2.

Yesterday, commissioners Lynn Bowers and Rodney Williams voted against the ban. Bowers, who said she was "torn" at the end of the last meeting, spoke in detail about her decision.

"It's easy for the government to tell us what to do ... but then where does it end?" said Bowers, who also feels that the ban won't protect children because parents can still smoke in private homes. "As an elected official, it's not my job to make that decision."

Bowers had suggested the previous limited ban amendment, as well as one that would have allowed businesses to become "smoking" or "smoke-free." Both amendments failed.

But the majority of the people attending the meeting felt otherwise. As the citizens crowded out of the room, most of the attention was on 11-year-old Elizabeth Wood, who brought to the city commission a petition several months ago that urged a smoking ban in the city.