P.O. Box 1222, Madison, WI 53701 | www.prodane.org | office@prodane.org | (608) 257-4985
As you may have heard - and you can certainly be forgiven if you were too busy enjoying the holiday weekend - Ald. Jed Sanborn has proposed repeal of Madison's 4 day old smokefree ordinance and Council President Paul Van Rooy has put it on tonight's Council agenda under suspension of the rules governing debate over major policy decisions made by the City.
Never mind that members of the Common Council spent a great deal of time researching, discussing, debating, and gathering constituent feedback on this ordinance.
Never mind that after doing so, 15 out of 20 alders voted for the ordinance.
Never mind that in the months leading to its implementation the City worked very hard to help businesses implement the ordinance.
Never mind the sneak attack on those who support the ban having adequate notice that the issue will be debated once again.
Finally, also be aware (and beware) of the red herring that the Council should put this issue to a referendum vote. If alders felt at the time that the ordinance passed that they did not have a firm grasp on the desires of their constituents, that would have been the time to ask for a referendum.
If there are Madison residents who would like to see the ordinance overturned, they should take the steps necessary to put a referendum on the ballot through citizen initiative. Absent such citizen interest, it does not make sense for the Common Council to continue this debate.
Supporters of the smokefree ordinance are prepared to let the rules be suspended, in part because this issue has dragged on (pun intended) long enough.
The council meeting begins at 6:30 and this will be among the first issues debated. If you can make it tonight, please do. Show your support for the smokefree ordinance. Tell Sanborn and Van Rooy you don’t appreciate the attack on your ability to be heard. And tell the council to kill the repeal.
Read more about the attempted repeal on Channel 3000 or some interesting commentary from Mike Ivey of the Capital Times.
Posted by prodane at July 5, 2005 09:59 PM
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