One by one, supporters of a smoking ban proposal that would cover most Indianapolis bars before the Super Bowl delivered a message tailored to City-County Council Democrats: Republican President Ryan Vaughn’s measure, packed with several exemptions, isn’t perfect. But it’s a big step forward.
Despite the drumbeat, three Democrats on a council committee bucked that message Tuesday and delivered what might have been a deadly blow.
They voted against advancing the measure to a final vote by the full council Monday, leading the motion to fail 6-2 in the Rules and Public Policy Committee.
Recriminations quickly followed by both sides. Democrat Angela Mansfield — a supporter of a more comprehensive smoking ban who had reluctantly supported Vaughn’s version — said she was “thrown a curveball” when the committee accepted a last-minute amendment to one of the proposal’s exemptions.
And she expressed concern that sending the proposal to the council floor would open it up to further amendments by Republican opponents.
For his part, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, a Republican, issued a biting press statement: “I am thoroughly disappointed that Democrats on the City-County Council placed partisan game-playing ahead of a commonsense compromise smoking ban proposal for our city.”
The council could still call the proposal for a vote Monday — the last meeting of the year — if 15 of the 29 members agree, but that step looks unlikely without key Democrats lined up.
Their votes are needed to offset expected “no” votes by many Republicans, and the measure was struggling to win Democrats’ backing even before Tuesday night’s turn.
It would be the second time an expansion of Indianapolis’ 2005 smoking ban to cover most bars has stalled out. Two years ago, Ballard threatened to veto such a measure.
Now, the issue likely is dead again — if only for a few weeks.
Democrats could push anew for a stronger smoking ban after council control flips to a 16-13 Democratic majority Jan. 1. Mansfield says she has 18 votes lined up.
However, Ballard has made clear that he isn’t likely to sign off on a stronger measure than Vaughn’s proposal.
A statement issued late Tuesday by Maggie Lewis, the Democrats’ nominee for council president next month, struck a conciliatory note.
“I believe that the city is hungry for a real clean-air policy,” she said, “and I extend my hand to Mayor Ballard to meet and discuss how we can work together to tackle this important issue to protect the health of our citizens, our workforce and visitors.”
Vaughn’s version would cover most bars, bowling alleys and hotel rooms. It would exempt existing cigar and hookah bars, tobacco shops, Downtown Indianapolis’ off-track betting parlor and nonprofit private and fraternal organizations, including veterans halls, if their members vote to retain smoking.
By anti-smoking advocacy group Smoke Free Indy’s count, his proposal would reduce smoking establishments from an estimated 370 to 60 or fewer.
No expanded ban would affect Beech Grove, Southport, Speedway or Lawrence.
Among five Republicans on the committee, only Vaughn and Michael McQuillen voted in favor of moving the proposal forward Tuesday.
Later in the meeting, the committee took up another politically tinged topic — redistricting. By a 5-2 party-line vote with one Democrat absent, Republicans advanced their proposal for redrawn council districts to the full council.
That issue may end up in the courts next year, because the Democrats likely will try to approve their own maps after they take control. Democrats have protested that Republicans shut them out of the process by using council money to pay their consultant $225,000.
The fight over redistricting has been cited by some Democrats as making their support for Vaughn’s smoking ban proposal — sold as a compromise — less likely.
But Mansfield went into Tuesday’s meeting planning to vote in favor, she said.
What changed her mind? The committee approved a last-minute amendment by committee member Angel Rivera, a Republican who opposes the smoking ban, that Mansfield saw as weakening the measure’s intent.
Rivera’s amendment altered the proposed exemption for private and fraternal clubs to say that if their members opt to retain smoking, they could still allow children younger than 18 in nonsmoking areas. Otherwise, children wouldn’t be able to enter any part of the club.
Vaughn, noting that the change might affect only a handful of clubs, wasn’t buying Mansfield’s explanation for her change of heart.
“I think they were looking for an out,” he said. “I voted for two of her amendments (to the proposal) tonight. I tried to make concessions to get support.”
Even if Mansfield had supported sending the proposal on to the council, the support of the other Democrats — Minority Leader Joanne Sanders and Monroe Gray — was far less assured. Explaining her vote, Sanders said Vaughn’s proposal posed “a conundrum for people who want a comprehensive ordinance.”
While Vaughn was speaking to a reporter in the hallway, Rivera told Vaughn that he’d be willing to vote to call the measure to the floor Monday, even though he doesn’t support the smoking ban.
Vaughn and Smoke Free Indy spokeswoman Lindsay Grace said they would discuss their next step later this week.
Grace and other advocates said they shared Mansfield’s concern about the new amendment Tuesday but were disappointed by Democrats’ “no” votes.
Supporters donning green T-shirts in support of Smoke Free Indy were among 100 or so members of the public who packed the council chambers Tuesday night.
Public comment continued for more than an hour. Vaughn’s proposal won backing from representatives of organizations including the Little Red Door Cancer Agency, the Marion County Health Department, Indiana Black Expo, the Indiana Latino Institute and the local chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
“The efforts that you make tonight will help ensure that someone, someday, will not develop cancer,” Fred Duncan, Little Red Door’s executive director, said before the vote.
Some attendees spoke against the proposal. A couple of bar owners who operate outside Downtown predicted they would lose customers or even go out of business.
And Brad Klopfenstein, spokesman for a group called Save Indianapolis Bars, said the council would be “playing favorites” if it exempted any establishments. “Bottom line on this,” he said, “is that this needs to be all or nothing.”
Tags: smoke free, smoking ban