City Council Safety Chairman Nestor Garcia said he would entertain the idea of expanding a proposal to ban smoking at some of Honolulu’s most popular beach facilities to include all city-run parks.
Bill 72 (2012), introduced by East Honolulu Councilman Stanley Chang, would ban smoking at Kapiolani Park, including its beach park, the beach side of Ala Moana Regional Park, Duke Paoa Kahanamoku Beach Park and Kuhio Beach Park.
It was given the first of three needed approvals by the Council by a 6-2 vote on Wednesday. Voting "no" were members Ikaika Anderson and Tom Berg.
Chang said the measure is needed largely to cut down on the large number of cigarette butts being discarded, adding that butts are ranked among the top forms of pollution at local beaches
But Garcia said he views the measure as more than just about litter control.
"I see it as a health issue," he said, adding that he would gladly insert language expanding the ban to all parks were his colleagues to support doing so when it is heard by his committee in the coming weeks.
"I’ve been hearing discussion (among Council members) about expanding this," he said after the meeting.
Anderson said there are already laws that make it illegal to litter on the beach.
"Let’s look at enforcement," he said.
Bills constantly treat smokers as "second-class citizens," including a state cigarette tax of more than $3 a pack, he said.
Kawika Crowley, a representative of the Hawaii Bar Owners Association and the Hawaii Smokers Alliance, called the measure "a terrible, terrible, stupid bill" that will lead tourists from Asian countries with high smoking rates to travel elsewhere.
Violet Sakamoto of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii said her group supports the bill and pointed out that Hawaii County has a similar law.
Garcia said he does not expect tourism to drop were smoking banned on Oahu beaches, saying that visitors are coming to Oahu in record numbers despite smoking bans at restaurants and public buildings.
Also on Wednesday, Council members voted to:
» Approve a resolution urging the governor to conduct an investigation into possible irregularity or impropriety last week during the general election.
» Approve on final reading a bill eliminating a discount given to companies that recycle material and dispose of nonrecyclable residue at the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill or the HPOWER waste-to-energy plant. The measure would take effect in July. Savings realized are expected to go to restoring cuts in bus service.
» Keep alive a bill designed to require the Hawaiian Humane Society or any future animal control provider contracted by the city to notify the public on its website when it intends to euthanize animals.
