Councilors appear split over law prohibiting smoking at parks

The Albert Lea City Council voted unanimously Monday to table a decision that would ban smoking and tobacco products at city facilities and parks.

The council tabled the issue to allow 3rd Ward Councilor George Marin to be in attendance for the vote. Marin was not at the Monday meeting, and councilors appeared to be split on the issue.

“I feel that banning smoking in public outside is going too far in my opinion, limiting personal freedom,” said 1st Ward Councilor John Schulte V.

Schulte said he is afraid that after approving no smoking at city parks that then the next step would be limiting smoking on city streets.

“That’s going too far,” he said.

The proposed ordinance would prohibit smoking at all city-owned parks and in vehicles parked at those locations. Violation of the ordinance would be a petty misdemeanor.

Sixth Ward Councilor Al Brooks said he supports the policies the city already has in place and commented on the success already being seen from them. He does not support the idea of an ordinance for it.

Anderson questioned whether law enforcement officers would rather deal with other concerns rather than a person who is smoking a cigarette in the park.

Albert Lea police Lt. Darin Palmer said he did not see the ordinance being a burden to officers, noting that officers would focus primarily on education to residents.

Second Ward Councilor Larry Baker said he heard opinions both in favor and against the ordinance, but for the most part everyone was positive.

Albert Lea Mayor Vern Rasmussen said though he recognizes that everyone, including smokers, have rights, he noted he is in favor of approving the ordinance to help protect the city’s youth.

The discussion came after at least a half dozen people spoke out in favor of the ban.

Lana Howe, facilitator for the Family Services Collaborative, said she used to serve as a park leader and talked about the role the parks played in her decision to live in Albert Lea after college.

“It only takes one small thing to affect it and make great things depreciate,” she said.

Resident Stacy Palmer, the engagement lead for the Blue Zones Project in Albert Lea, talked about her 16-year-old twins who were born a few months early and who had respiratory problems when they were younger.

She said she thinks it is a natural change to make parks tobacco-free.

“They have a right to clean air,” she said. “They have a right to health.”

Alice Englin, coordinator of the Statewide Health Improvement Program in Freeborn County, reminded the councilors of the work already done to help residents from secondhand smoke.

She said youth saw the steepest decline in cigarette smoking ever in the most recent Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey.

And about 4 percent fewer teenagers in Freeborn County said they smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days, comparing data from 2013 and 2014.

“While these numbers are really good, there is still some work to be done,” Englin said.

Two Albert Lea High School students also spoke in favor of the ban and talked about what role the parks have played in their lives.

Randy Kehr, executive director of the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce, said people can look to businesses to get a pulse of the community on this issue.

He said the number of employees working on tobacco-free campuses has grown from 4 percent to 50 percent in the last six years. He read off several workplaces that are now tobacco-free.

“The list clearly shows that employers are embracing tobacco-free policies in all types of worksites,” Kehr said.

Ellen Kehr, organization lead for the Blue Zones Project, talked about how Southwest Middle School was approved as the first Blue Zones school in Albert Lea last week. She said those middle-schoolers students set a standard of well-being that should be in the schools, and she asked the council to protect these students.

“The same way that we’re going to be depending on them in the future, right now they’re depending on us,” she said.

The council will take the issue back up during its May 11 meeting.

Look to the Tribune on Wednesday for more about the Monday night meeting.