|
sponsored by
|
| Tuesday, February 27, 2007 |
|
SPONSORED LINKS |
Health District hearing angers some bar owners, pleases othersWith video of Tuesday's hearing at http://lvbusinesspress.com/media/2007/smokingban/The Clean Indoor Act is now pitting bar owner against bar owner. The Southern Nevada Health District’s proposed regulations, which impose hefty fines on businesses violating the smoking ban, have tavern operators arguing with each other. A meeting Tuesday at the Southern Nevada Health District brought out more than 60 people, including a fair share of tavern, restaurant and convenience store operators upset over both too much enforcement and too little. New draft regulations call for a hearings officer process and increased fines. It will also add violations of the Clean Indoor Air Act to the list of substantial health hazards, which are punished by both fines and revocation of the health permit.
Ronald Morgan, a local bartender, called the new fines “legal extortion.” “I just don’t understand this,” he said, “(It is enforced) in my place with 15 slot machines when the place across the street has 35 slot machines, and people can eat and smoke right inside that place. “If you are looking out for the welfare of my family, please stop,” Morgan pleaded. He declined to give the name of the bar at which he worked. Others felt it was about time that something was done to level the playing field between those in compliance and those looking the other way when smokers light up in bars serving food. “I go into the competition and there are no signs up and no ashtrays are put away, and everybody’s smoking,” lamented John McDonnell, the owner of Lucky’s Tavern. “I am one of the few bars in town that are in compliance, and it frustrates me that bars are (ignoring) it.” A bigger issue could be whether the Southern Nevada Health District, through approval by the state Board of Health, has the authority to make such regulations. The board was scheduled to hear the proposals on March 22, after three workshops. “We object to the regulations generally,” responded Kathleen Fellows, an attorney representing bar and slot route operators who have filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of the new Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act. “We don’t believe the Board of Health has the authority to adopt these rules or appoint a hearings officer.” Stephen Minagil, the health district attorney, said his agency would not have drafted the regulations in the first place if it didn’t have the authority to do so. Under the district’s draft regulations, an administrative fee of $600 would be added on top of the existing $100 penalty assigned to bar operators and patrons. The first $100 would continue to go to the state. The additional fine would go into the district to cover enforcement costs, according to Minagil. That enforcement duty will now be dumped on the business owners and their employees, some in attendance complained. “It looks like you are abrogating your responsibility for enforcement,” Al Heald, the operator of Stop-n-Shop, told the health district representatives. “Now, we are the police.” That’s a duty, Heald said, he’d rather not have. “I don’t want to put a female employee in charge of telling a 250-pound guy that he can’t light a cigarette.” The next workshop is scheduled to take place Thursday, March 1, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. To watch video highlights of Tuesday's hearing, go to http://lvbusinesspress.com/media/2007/smokingban/ vmiller@lvbusinesspress.com|702-871-6780, ext. 331 |
 | |||||
|
|
|
|||
| |||||
Copyright © 2009, Las Vegas Business Press | Privacy Policy