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Citizen-backed smoking ban effort to move forward
Maryville Daily Forum
12/29/2009
Maryville, Mo. -
The Maryville City Council enacted a new ordinance Monday setting up legal machinery that will allow proponents of a proposed workplace smoking ban to attempt to place the measure on the ballot.
Citizens for a Smoke-free Nodaway County, which proposed the ban, had hoped to get the measure before voters on April 6. But spokesperson Teri Harr said there probably isn't enough time to collect signatures and have them certified before the clock runs out next month.
In order to get the question on the April ballot, Harr's group would have to collect an estimated 1,500 signatures from registered voters living inside the city limits then turn them over to City Clerk Sheila Smail for certification by Jan. 21.
Legally, the clerk can take up to 10 days to complete the certification process. In addition, the City Council must also vote to accept the petition and place it on the ballot. That's largely a formality and could likely be done during a brief special session. But the vote can come only after certification is complete and would require 24 hours' public notice under the Missouri open meetings law.
In reality, the requirements mean Citizens for a Smoke-free Nodaway County only has until Jan. 8 or so to get the necessary signatures, which Harr admitted "is not very possible."
"I just have a hard time believing we can get 1,500 signatures by Jan. 8," she said.
State law says that in order for a third-class city like Maryville to get a petition referendum on the ballot, petitioners must collect verifiable signatures from 25 percent of the registered voters living within the city limits. Since between 5,000 and 6,000 voters reside in town, smoke-free advocates will need between 1,300 and 1,500 names.
Harr said if the drive comes up short, her group will keep working to have enough signatures to qualify for upcoming election dates in June, August or November.
Following two public hearings this fall, the council voted 3-2 at its last regular meeting on Dec. 14 not to act on a workplace smoking ordinance, which it could have done on its own authority without an election. Instead, the majority said the issue was one better decided by voters. Later that week, however, it was discovered Maryville lacked statutory provisions needed to place referendums on a local ballot.
As proposed, the workplace smoking ban would expand an existing prohibition to all workplaces within the city limits, including private clubs. Smoking would also be outlawed within several feet of main entrances and outdoor areas in which employees are required to perform job-related tasks.
Maryville made headlines around the state in 2003 when it became the first Missouri city to ban smoking, without exemptions, in restaurants, cafeterias, kitchens, school dining areas and conference rooms where meals are catered.
In other business, the council approved allocating an amount not to exceed $15,200 for inspection of a groundwater monitoring well at the Maryville Sanitary Landfill by Aquaterra Environmental.
The inspection is being conducted in response to a state Department of Natural Resources notice submitted to the city last month regarding possible elevated chloride levels at well 15-D.
Also approved was a request from Northwest Missouri State University to close College Avenue (Fourth Street) between University Drive and College Park Drive between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 2, when the university plans to hold a parade in honor of its national championship football team.
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