By JIM BROOKS
The Nelson County Gazette
Tomorrow evening, the Bardstown City Council will have the second reading of an ordinance that will ban smoking in public places. The ban has ignited considerable controversy on both sides of the issue, though from my perspective, there’s quite a significant silent majority who no one has heard from.
And for many of us, the issue is not at all about smoking. We understand and acknowledge the health risks. The issue is rights and individual liberty. It’s about stripping business owners of the right to determine how they will run their own business. It’s about penalizing citizens who wish to use a product that — despite its health effects — remains a legal product.
I don’t doubt the sincerity of the mayor and the council members who voted in favor of the ban. But taking this stand during an election year, the ban’s supporters may find themselves learning a lesson about “The Rule of Unintended Consequences.”
While most people in this silent majority don’t smoke and don’t like being around smokers, they are also a bit rankled to see a special interest group come waltzing into town and demanding — and getting — action on their pet issue. To the Bardstown residents who have had to deal with chronic problems (drainage, water and sewer to name a few), it must rather disappointing to know that the council has taken up the issue and has taken action, while their concerns in too many cases remain unresolved.
But that truly is the nature of how a special interest group operates: Identify the problem (in this case, smoking), then flood elected representatives with their “facts” (anti-smoking information), then hand them an easy solution (a boilerplate template of an ordinance that will “fix” the problem). In addition to all the health benefits the smoking ban proponents tout, approving the ordinance also makes the special interest group go away, and I suspect the mayor and council have had all they care to stomach of the smoking ban.
The council members who voted for the ban — Roland Williams, John Royalty and Tommy Reed, accompanied by Mayor Dick Heaton — have listened to the comments from residents and voted in favor of it anyway. While each has his reason to vote in favor, I trust that all of them are aware of the rapidly changing political environment we’re in right now. Interest in politics and issues is at very high levels and there’s a definite interest in pushing back against government’s reaching into private and personal issues — which includes smoking bans.
I have no doubt the smoking ban will be approved Tuesday night. It will make for an interesting summer as we approach the candidate filing deadline in August: Will the council’s smoking ban prompt an outbreak of additional candidates for city council?
An interesting part of this is the fact that the council voted a number of years ago to do away with the requirement for a primary in the council race if more than a certain number of candidates filed for a seat on the council. Should a dozen — or more — candidates throw their proverbial hats into the ring, the results in November could be very, very interesting to watch.
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