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Deadline for posting new smoking signs
, Publisher
07-01-2010
Business owners now have a deadline from the city for complying with the smoking ordinance city commissioners passed at their last meeting in June.
They’ll be on to new business when they gather again in July, headed into budget season in full force, but the adjustment from city businesspeople and residents will likely take some time. In fact, officials with the city have expressed expectations that adjustment will take longer than the Aug. 1 deadline for signage compliance that has been imposed.
Businesses take note: Letters have gone out detailing the city’s expectation for us to adhere to the new measure, and while no repercussions are immediately apparent in their correspondence with us, it’s our responsibility to take the letter of the law seriously.
Commissioners faced a tough choice when it came down to time for the vote on this issue, so the effort that has been put into it should not be underestimated and the responsibility to encourage people to follow the rule should not be overlooked.
We’ve said before that this measure is a push from city commissioners concerned with the health of residents. A significant number of people have put their support behind the effort, as well, which bolsters its influence.
Police department officers have their hands full, to be sure, in the daily work of dealing with violent, dangerous offenders, as well as in their patrol duties and other responsibilities tied to law enforcement in Ennis. Adding this enforcement level duty is not taken lightly by the city or its police force, and we’re assured there will be a period after which the tickets will start rolling out if people flagrantly abuse the law.
Ennis’ residents are not the kind of thumb their nose at the law, so we have no reason to believe enforcement and adaptation to the new rule will be a sticky issue. Still, it behooves us all to remember that the rule is now in place, and businesses that previously allowed smoking inside their facilities must take note. The rest of us need to keep our eyes out — smoking is now prohibited within 15 feet of the main pedestrian entrance of our facilities, so moving those ash trays and reminding ourselves of the rules must become a matter of course.
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