In a 13-5 vote last Tuesday, the City Council approved a law banning smoking in the workplace.

The ordinance will include the smallest of businesses, but not those who work in their own homes.

The smoking ban will go into effect March 1, 2002 and small businesses have until Jan. 1, 2003 to comply.

The ordinance’s main sponsor, Ald. Jean MacCubbin, District 11, said employers have three months to study the law and inform their employees.

“For employees thinking of quitting [smoking], they have 90 days to possibly do that,” MacCubbin said.

MacCubbin and the council have been working on the ban for years. The council has seen 42 drafts of potential smoking-ban ordinances.
Smoking will still be allowed in some places.
People can still smoke in taverns, private clubs, restaurant bars, tobacco stores, open park shelters and privately owned and separately ventilated meeting and conference rooms.

Police interview rooms are also exempt, as long as one room in each department is designated smoke-free. The city banned smoking in restaurants long ago, but restaurants can have smoking rooms as long as they are separately ventilated.

Hotels and motels, as well as outdoor workplaces and buildings under construction, are exempt from the ban.

In other business, the Guest Policy Ordinance introduced by Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, was approved after more than a year of reviews and changes.

The ordinance establishes rules for landlords who regulate tenant guests.

Under the new law, landlords must clearly describe all guest restrictions in leases and cannot completely ban a tenant from having guests. Landlords can still ban overnight guests or require written permission for guests.

“It’s been a fair struggle; it took pretty much a full year to muster the votes to have somewhat of a meaningful law now on the books,” Verveer said.

After approximately two hours of debate, the council did not officially pass anything pertaining to a resolution on the war in Afghanistan.

“The city council provided an official soapbox for citizens wanting to speak out,” Verveer said. “In that sense, it was positive.”