A proposed ban on smoking at playgrounds received the full support of the Baltimore City Council when Council President Jack Young added his name as a co-sponsor.
The bill, introduced Monday, would prohibit smoking within 50 feet of a playground, schoolyard or athletic facility. Councilman Bill Cole, the sponsor, said this was a more reasonable approach than extending the ban to an entire park.
“Most jurisdictions, large jurisdictions, have outright bans of smoking in parks and I didn't want to go that far,” said Cole who represents parts of South and Central Baltimore. He points out that the Maryland Stadium Authority has a smoking ban inside of Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium
The bill will be heard before the Health Committee whose chairman, Councilman Robert Curran, led the charge in the council for an indoor smoking ban at bars and restaurants.
“My good colleague from the 11th district is taking up the fight and I told him to go for it,” said Curran, who expects to hear from the tobacco industry regarding the proposed measure. “They view any prohibition against smoking as a negative to their industry,” he added.
Before the start of the meeting, City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot announced her support of the measure. Barbot said playgrounds and schoolyards play an important role in providing safe spaces for physical activity and should be a safe haven from tobacco smoke.
“Children are very impressionable. Playgrounds and schoolyards should be safe spaces for children to learn and practice healthy habits that will last a lifetime,” she said.
Kevin Harris, spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawling-Blake, said the mayor supports the measure. A hearing is expected to take place in the next five to six weeks.
Speeding For Answers
Members of the City Council Land Use and Transportation Committee are expecting to get answers to Baltimore’s problem-plagued speed and red light camera program.
The committee will be holding a hearing on Wednesday.
The city paid Hanover, Md.-based Brekford Corporation $600,000 to end its contract with the company in December after the two sides could not resolve consistent errors in the program, including a ticket that was issued to a parked vehicle reported by The Sun Saturday.
Councilman Brandon Scott, who sponsored the resolution calling for the hearing, said the buyout of the contract makes him want to have the hearing even more.
“Now we want to talk about the program in its totality,” said Scott whose district includes parts of Northeast Baltimore, “I’m not naïve enough to think that Brekford was the only problem.”
Council Vice President Ed Reisinger, who chairs the committee, was not comfortable about the buyout of the contract. “I was very upset that [Brekford] was at fault and we appropriated $600,000,” said Reisinger who added he was waiting for the opinion of attorneys from the Bureau of Purchases.
The councilman from Southwest Baltimore said the hearing is being held to find out why the vendor “went south” and to see where the transportation department stands.
Other notes
- The hearing for Rudy Chow to take over as director of public works has been scheduled for January 29. Chow, a deputy director and head of the Bureau of Water and Wastewater, would succeed Alfred Foxx who is stepping down at the end of January. Chow has been head of water and wastewater since February 2011.
- The City Council honored the Frederick Douglass High School football team for making it to the state Class 1A Football Championship in December.
Councilman Nick Mosby, who was on the sidelines during the game against the Fort Hill Sentinels of Allegany County, said officials credited the Ducks for having the best character of a losing team in the state playoffs.
The Ducks were shut out in their first trip to the championship in school history by the Sentinels, 25-0.