City Council proposes new ban on smoking

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer

Four Honolulu City Council members who recently lost in their bid for a restaurant smoking ban have come up with a new proposal and may have won the support of a fifth council member to get the measure passed.

Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura, who was one of the five opponents of the bill rejected last week, said yesterday the new proposal is an improvement and has a better chance of success.

"I'm considering supporting it," Yoshimura said.

Councilman John Henry Felix, who had introduced the restaurant smoking ban bill that failed last week by the 5-to-4 vote, co-authored this latest proposal with three of his colleagues: Duke Bainum, Steve Holmes and Gary Okino.

The defeated measure would have taken effect immediately and banned smoking in restaurants, but excluded non-dining areas and bars and nightclubs.

The new measure would take effect in six months after being approved and would allow smoking in outdoor areas. But because it would have to go through numerous committee hearings and council readings, the earliest the council could approve it would be early next year.

The new proposal would mark the fourth time in three years that the City Council has grappled with the emotional controversy over banning smoking in restaurants.

One of the five who voted against the ban may not even be in office by the time it is introduced.

Andy Mirikitani must leave office after his sentencing Dec. 4 in federal court on felony public corruption charges.

A special election is expected to be held to fill the vacancy, but Mirikitani's successor likely won't be sworn in until early next year.

The measure, if approved, also may not face any veto by Mayor Jeremy Harris, who said after the most recent vote that he would have supported a compromise bill. He said he had heard from Council members that a compromise might include a delayed effective date to allow restaurants to prepare for changes.

Felix said this new measure represents a compromise and that a six-month delay "would give us sufficient time to get the visitor industry more or less back on an even keel."

Opponents have said that the restaurant and visitor industry, already battered by the economic slump that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, can't afford to risk losing any more business.

But Felix said he sees a heightened sense of awareness in the public. "We have to keep the momentum going," Felix said.

Clifford Chang, director of Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawai'i, said the association supports any effort to extend workplace protections because smoking poses a clear health threat to workers and diners.

Chang said the coalition has been considering taking the matter directly to O'ahu voters through a ballot initiative, but he remains hopeful that the Council will act on the issue. "We wouldn't rule out initiative," he said, but the association knows that would likely be a tough, "extraordinarily expensive" battle.

Yoshimura said he felt that the last bill "failed because the introducer of the bill didn't consult anyone prior to introducing the bill."

Yoshimura said he thinks that the Council can come up with a compromise that he and others, including Harris, can support.

"I think it's possible," Yoshimura said. "We need to put all of our collective efforts together."

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.