Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Should city police respond to complaints about smoking?

A proposal to designate certain public places as smoke-free, including bus stops and possibly parks, stirred up a debate at Monday's Ann Arbor City Council meeting.
A number of council members indicated they have hesitations about adopting an outdoor smoking ordinance that could have city police officers responding to complaints about people smoking cigarettes outdoors.
Council Member Stephen Kunselman, D-3rd Ward, said his concern is people would start calling 911 to resolve "personal space disputes."
"I cannot support having our police department chasing people who are smoking cigarettes," Kunselman said.
Council Member Jane Lumm, an independent from the 2nd Ward, agreed, saying city police officers have more important things to do.
The council voted 9-2 to postpone consideration of the ordinance to April 7, when it will come back for first reading.
A public hearing will be held if the ordinance eventually advances to second reading. It's been postponed multiple times now.
The two dissenting votes came from Mayor John Hieftje and Christopher Taylor, who were ready to advance it to second reading Monday night.

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