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Freedom, Accessibility and Future Ordinances
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This past Metro Council meeting, my Cigar bar ordinance came up for a vote. More technically, it amended our smoke free ordinance to allow cigar establishments that generated over 51% of their sales from cigars to allow smoking in their establishment if they were segregated from all other businesses. This would be a scenario where the only people who would be affected by second-hand smoke, the reason the original smoking ordinance was passed, would be people who already consume this legal product. We already had proof that some of these businesses who wanted to open in Louisville instead opened in Indiana and we also had proof that tourists who smoke cigars regularly asked about these establishments when they visit. Finally, other high tourism cities like Nashville have a non-smoking ordinance and cigar bars and obviously do quite well. Unfortunately, the ordinance failed in a 15-11 vote. There was bipartisan support for it but ultimately this did not become law. This continues my concern when well intentioned public health measures then cross the line into infringing on freedoms where there is no data indicating the measure will improve health.
This past meeting, Metro Council also voted on a rule change to allow Councilmembers to attend meetings online for any reason and at any time after the public health emergency is over. I was not in favor of this. Metro Council members do not have office hours. We are citizen legislators. One of the few times and places you know you can interact with us is at Council meetings. By making this change, it is now possible that Councilmembers, after the public health emergency, never have to step foot in Council Chambers at City Hall. I believe that if you willingly took this job, the least you could do is commit to a time and place to conduct business face to face a few hours a week. This ultimately passed along party lines with the Democrat Caucus voting for this change and the Republican Caucus voting against it. Regardless of this change, when the public health emergency is over, I will be back to attending all meetings in person at City Hall. As a matter of fact, I almost always attend virtually from my office so you will always know where I am and have the opportunity to interact with me.
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